Escort
by Lololova
Summary: Kate Beckett or, as you might know her, Nikki Heat has been in the business since she was sixteen years old. And everything was fine, or at least so she thought it was, until she met him. He wasn't like the others, he didn't understand it was a job. Because it WAS. A. JOB. It was HER job. Her job to satisfy his, and others', needs. But what does one do when the job turns into more?
1. Chapter One

_Hope you will enjoy this first chapter of my new fanfic! It's rated M so if you don't want to read M-rated content don't continue reading, just thought you should be warned ;)  
Also, feel free to review, I'd love to know your thoughts! xx_

* * *

Her phone dragged her out of her sleep, _who the hell calls this early?_ When Kate Beckett reached for it and looked to see who it was she didn't recognize the number, at all, so she cleared her throat from the sleep before she answered with the sexiest voice she could muster.

"Nikki Heat, what can I pleasure you with?"

Her voice was still draped with sleep, making it rough and even naughtier than she'd anticipated.

"Uh, hi," she heard a male voice in the other end of the phone.

She could immediately tell this was the man's first time, his voice shaking and the insecurity dripping through like water from a tap.

"I-uh, don't normally do this," he admitted and she rolled her eyes, thankful he could not see her.

 _No shit, Sherlock._

"Don't worry, some time's gotta be the first time, right?" she flirted.

She'd been doing this for a _loong_ time now and she knew that some guys needed a little push in order to figure out if this really was what they wanted. A little flirting and sexy innuendos would often do the trick, either they would excuse themselves and saying they regretted it or they would be all game and book an appointment.

The man chuckled nervously in the other end, letting out a 'I guess so' and she couldn't help but bite her lower lip. She didn't know why but there was something about his voice that felt... comforting? She quickly pushed that thought aside, trying to remember why she did this, what she was supposed to do.

"Look, I won't bite... unless you want me to," she teased, letting him hear the small smirk she let onto her lips.

"Is it-uh... could we meet up first? Like, I just want to make sure you're okay with this in person first," he sounded so insecure, _oh my god she was so not used to this_!

"I'm free tonight, or even during the day if you want me to come over, tomorrow I have other clients," she replied, waiting patiently for his answer.

"Would it be okay if you come by at one? I'm kind of lacking company today," he chuckled nervously once again.

 _You don't say._ She had to bite back on her tongue, forbidding herself to screw up another potential client before it even begun.

"Sure, I'll be there, just text me your name and your address and I'll send a copy of my prizes," she said and he agreed before she ended their call.

She put her head in her pillow and groaned. And here she'd been thinking she would have a day off, so much for that plan. Checking her clock she decided she could at least have two more hours of sleep before she had to get herself ready for her new client. Before she managed to put away we phone after setting an alarm she got a text containing his name and address.

 _Richard Castle._

* * *

Richard Castle wasn't sure of what he was doing, but the closer the time got to one he was getting more and more nervous. How had he gotten himself into this? Oh, that's right, _his friends had bet he wouldn't dare go through with it_. How stupid could he be?! They had told him, as a joke, that he would never be brave enough to pull a 'Dustin' and call a hooker and actually go through with it. Dustin had of course laughed and said he was probably the only one of the three best friends who'd ever do it, especially considering Rick was too sensible to even consider calling one. He'd been offended by that, not wanting to be stamped as the coward he'd immediately disagreed and before he knew it, it had been turned into a bet. A bet of which, if he would bail, could mean he had to dedicate his next book to his two assholes of friends. He wasn't sure why he was friends with them in the first place, the two were always up to something and getting him into trouble. He was really not even that into their friendship, still he didn't feel like he could leave them considering they'd been friends since high school.

The knock on the door had him jump with fright, taking two deep breaths before he set off towards his guest. He felt shock spark through his spine when he opened the door to reveal a beautiful brunette, who had to be at least three years _younger_ than him, stand in front of him with rough hair and a naughty smirk on her red plump lips.

"Uh, hi," the man said in front of her and Kate could immediately, with one hundred percent certainty, tell it was the same man who'd hired her.

"You Richard Castle?" she asked anyway to make sure, what a hell would've broken loose if she would move onto the wrong guy.

She could see he swallowed hard, his Adam's apple moving with the nervousness that seemed to have paralyzed his body.

"Y-yes, are _you_ Nikki Heat?" his words seemed to leave his mouth without his consent and she couldn't help but feel the giggle in her belly.

A giggle of which she restrained herself from letting out, she was a professional and those kind of emotions did not fit in with this line of work.

"Yes, I am, can I please come in?" she questioned and he immediately nodded, stepping aside to let her in.

She tried not to look around too much, it wasn't any of her business what his loft looked like. She'd recognized the address as one of the richer buildings and had immediately connected the name to the author, whose book she'd seen and bought but never had time to actually read.

"So, where do you want me?" she said with a sultry voice, as soon as he'd closed the door, and started taking off her coat.

Hearing him swallow hard and seeing him choking on his words made her belly tingle in a way it hadn't before, and she ignored it.

"I...I don't know? I-uh..."

This time she couldn't stop the smile from sneaking onto her lips.

"Don't worry, we can take this slow, it's your first time so how about you tell me what you've liked before?" she suggested and pointed towards the couch she'd seen was in the middle of his living room.

"Liked? Liked what?" he asked and she felt so sorry for him.

It really started to look like this wasn't his idea at all, like he didn't really want this. No matter how obvious it was, in his dark blue eyes, that he was attracted to her.

"In bed, what have you liked when you've had sex before? Or maybe you're a virgin?" she was suddenly a bit insecure herself.

She didn't want to offend him or anything but his insecurities were rubbing off on her, and she didn't like that.

"Oh, no, I've had sex before!" his hasty reply almost made her chuckle, almost, and his blushing cheeks had her stomach flip.

 _What the hell?_

"But I don't..."

His voice trailed off and she wondered what he'd gotten himself into, what had made him call her?

"Do you like blowjobs?" she asked, licking her lip and she immediately saw him jump a little at her suggestion.

His eyes glanced to her lips and she could swear she saw his eyes darken with lust, and upon looking down to his crotch her suspicion was confirmed by the bulge in his pants. Meeting his eyes she realized he'd seen her looking when his cheeks turned as red as they possibly could be.

"Sorry, I..." he sighed, she could sense frustration taking over his body.

Kate took a deep breath, steadying her own nerves and wondered what the hell she had to be nervous about, and she tapped the seat beside her in the couch. He had followed her to the couch before but he hadn't joined her when she sat down, which was a bit odd. No matter who she'd come across they'd always been eager to be, sometimes, too close to her before she's even laid out her one and only rule. But then again, this whole situation felt odd. He didn't act like the average 'lonely man' who wanted some 'company', he acted... she didn't really know how to put it? Like a teenage boy on his first date? _Pull yourself together Kate! Stop it._ She had internal battles to try and keep her emotions out of all of this. Once he sat down, with a clear gap between the two, she opened her mouth again.

"Look, some only wants to talk the first time and that's okay, but I gotta ask," she added and he looked up at her to meet her eyes carefully, "do you want this or have you changed your mind?"

His eyes widened only slightly, as if he caught himself widening his eyes and therefore tried to stop it before she would see it, only she did.

"No, it's not that I don't want to... but it just..." he sighed again and this time she stayed quiet, having a feeling he would continue when he was comfortable enough. "My friends kind of bet me into doing this, and I have to go through with it, but I'm just so... _unsure_ of what to do."

Rick had avoided eye contact with her, in his mind adding the fact that he was a bit concerned about her being younger than him and being involved in this kind of work. It was concerning because he couldn't help but wonder how and why she'd started.

"Well, you don't have to do anything, we can figure out what you like together," she flirted and when he glanced at her she winked at him with her tongue out.

 _God she's beautiful_. He couldn't help but feel his heart skip at her antics, and he knew it was a bad idea to continue with this, knowing this was all just a job for her.

"Okay," was all he said and she smiled in a salacious matter as her fingers started to open the buttons on her shirt, leaving him breathless.

When her shirt was suddenly out of the way he could see the black lace bra she wore and he choke on his try to breath.

Kate couldn't help but feel satisfied by his reaction, already sensing this would be one of the good ones. Standing up she got rid of the heels and jeans she'd decided to wear, she often used a more normal outfit for the first times, feeling those were the best choices when she didn't know her client yet. Then after getting to know them a little she tried to dress up the way they would get turned on by, some had very highly praised her being all naked in only a coat while others wanted her to dress like a college student. When she stood in only her lace underwear she could see the full lust in his eyes and so she moved to sit on her knees in front of him on the floor, having a mischievous smirk on her lips.

"Do-uh, do you have any rules?" he asked and she almost slapped herself for forgetting to bring that up.

"Yeah, but only one," she said looking him directly in the eyes as experienced fingers went to his crotch to unbutton his belt. "No kissing on the lips. Not under any circumstances."

He nodded and she could almost swear she saw a tiny bit of disappointment. The second his buttons were out of the way she started pulling down his pants, letting his boxers stay on in case he would feel more comfortable like that to begin with. Her hand palmed his manhood through his boxers, and it brought a gasp from his mouth which she bit her lip for. She stroked him through his boxers, feeling him getting harder and harder by each stroke and it didn't take long before she found him breathing hard to try keep himself together.

"Oh god, Nikki," he groaned and she felt her securities come back, just as his _in_ securities seemed to go away.

He had put his head on the cushion of the couch and closed his eyes, so when she pulled out his hardness he didn't have his eyes on her. She licked her lips, preparing herself to see what his reaction would be by locking her eyes on his face. Stroking him a few more times she felt him throb in her hand, as excited as she felt. It was kind of weird because she never felt this excitement towards any of her clients, sure he was attractive, _very attractive actually_ , but so were many of her other clients. When she let the tip of her tongue reach the tip of him she saw his eyes pop open and were on her immediately. She licked the length of him before taking him in her mouth, keeping eye contact with him during she sucked and licked and pumped him with her lips.

"Nikki, I'm about to..." he gasped and she sucked harder, bringing him to come in her mouth.

She swallowed with practiced ease, feeling a tiny bit shocked that it didn't take her any amount of force. It was almost as if she liked it? _Stop._ She cleaned him up with her tongue, making sure nothing would come on the couch. Being done, she put him back into his boxers before raising up into a standing position.

"You want to continue this in the bedroom?" she smirked and he looked up at her with shock and bliss evident in his blue eyes.

He immediately stood up, almost knocking her over, and grabbed her hands in order to be able to pull her with him as he steered them towards a door leading into an office, where he pulled her towards another door in which stood a bed. His bedroom. She let go of a small yelp when he turned in a quick move and put his arms around her in order to lift her up and throw her onto the bed. A surprised giggle passed her lips before she could stop it, looking up she saw him looking down at her, his eyes roaming her body up and down with a newfound hunger she hadn't witnessed before. She wasn't aware of the arousal and giddiness going down her whole body until she shivered at the look he gave her. He pulled off his shirt in a gracious move and she couldn't help but stare at his broad chest, feeling hot and bothered and _this is not how she should feel, what is this?!_ She felt shock when he lowered himself to her thigh and gasped silently when his nose tickled her skin with its presence.

"You said no kissing on the lips, but everywhere else it's okay right?" he asked and she couldn't find the words to answer, so when he looked up with a questioning look she only nodded. "Good," he mumbled before he started kissing the insides of her thigh and _oh my god_.

She caught herself moaning when his lips moved closer and closer to her most intimate part. So, she bit down on her lip, drawing blood from it because she was trying so hard not to let out the sounds he was attracting with his demonstrations. It took about ten seconds before her panties were out of the way, his lips started sucking and his tongue started licking and _god what is happening?!_ She'd never felt so good as she did right now! The other men she's been with had never paid her any attention, and why would they it's _their_ money for _their_ pleasure? Before she knew it she was shattering and to her surprise he moaned when he tasted her orgasm on his tongue. She felt dizzy, never knowing it could feel this way. He kissed his way up, unhooking her bra to suck gently on her breasts before his face came close to hers. She could almost feel his lips, _that_ 's how close he was. And _god_ she wanted to taste them, but before she could do the one thing she should not her mind caught up with what they were doing. She pushed her hands on his chest to lay beside her, following him so she was straddling him and had her head away from him.

"No. Kissing."

The command came out as a growl, hoping he wouldn't try that again. Kissing was too intimate. Too emotionally loaded. They weren't making love, they were simply having sex. That's what she got paid to do. Nothing emotional about it. _So why does it feel wrong not kissing?_ She pushed the thought as far back in her mind as she could, locked it away, because no. She was a professional. Sliding him out of his boxers she didn't even have to do anything to make him hard, he was already hard from pleasuring her. Together they placed him where he was supposed to be, and she pushed onto him, grinding and focusing on whatever made him groan with pleasure. If he wanted fast or slow, she did what _he_ wanted because that was her _job_. She was the escort and he was her client.


	2. Chapter Two

_Thank you all so much for the positive response on the first chapter! Hope you'll enjoy this one just as much and/or even more!_

* * *

"Oh yes, just like that! Suck a little harder, come on, I know you can, now be ready to swallow my cum."

Mr Tyler said as he held a firm grip on Kate's hair, thrusting his dick inside her mouth as if his life depended on it. Kate did her best to follow his instructions, fondling with his balls to give him that extra nudge over the edge, and before she knew it he, _finally_ , came. She swallowed it just like he told her, wanting to make sure he wouldn't be disappointed in her services. As soon as she'd cleaned him with her tongue she pulled back and he gave her a sated, sleepy smile.

"Thank you Nikki, the money's in the usual bowl by the door. Same time next week?" he asked and she gave him a flirty smile.

"Of course mr Tyler, any desires or do you want to text me the same day?" she questioned, her voice dripping with sex.

"Hmm... I think this slutty party girl thing is doing it for me, but I'll text you just in case," he answered.

"Okay, see you then," she winked, turning around towards the bedroom door.

Before she'd taken more than one step she felt his hand spanking her ass one last time. She went out of his bedroom and received the money, counting it, before she put on her coat and left. Once she was out of his building and a far enough distance away she let go of a sigh, taking deep breaths in order to make sure she got enough air. Mr Tyler could be quite aggressive sometimes, especially when he wanted her to play wild and turn into a slutty persona. He never hurt her, that wasn't something she would allow, but when he used her mouth the way he had tonight she did need some time afterwards to re-catch her breath again. She was only glad he had settled with a blowjob tonight, she didn't think she'd been able to handle any more. She was halfway to her apartment when her phone rang, and she knew by the tone who it was even before she answered it.

"Nikki Heat, what can I pleasure you with?" she asked in a hushed, sex dripping voice.

"Hello Nikki, you got any more clients tonight or could I squeeze myself in for the rest of the night?" he asked and she felt her stomach flip.

 _Stop it!_

"I'm free, same place as usual?" she asked and he immediately agreed. "Then I'll see you in ten minutes mr Castle," she flirted and rearranged her footsteps towards his building.

The second she knocked on his door it opened and she felt his hands on her waist to pull her inside. He closed the door with her body, pushing his into hers while his lips landed on her neck, nipping and kissing. She moaned for real for the first time that day, his lips leaving an electric feeling shooting down her whole body. _God she'd missed this_. Even though she'd seen him only two days ago, when he'd called her telling her he felt lonely and needed her company. She felt his lips travel to her jaw and they were dangerously close to her lips when she pulled away her head and pushed on his chest.

"No. Kissing."

She repeated the growling words she'd had to repeat _every damn time_ he'd called for her services, and she knew she should've broken off their arrangement. Under any other similar circumstances she would, _she had_ , but there was something with this man that pulled her in, and she knew she couldn't leave. Like every other damn time he mumbled his apology before they started peeling each other's clothes off. They didn't make it to his bedroom this time, ended up against the door, on the floor and on the couch before they could even begin to _think_ about his bed. Fully naked she laid on the couch while he had laid down on the soft carpet on the floor beside it. They were both panting hard and Kate cursed herself because she felt too good for this to be strictly professional. She wasn't supposed to feel good! Or, at least not _this_ good! It should all be about the client's pleasure, not hers! So why did it feel different with him? Why could she not stop him whenever he started eating her out or rubbing her off? Why was _she_ different whenever she was around him?

"Can I ask you a question?" Rick asked with a hard swallow following and she turned her head in order to look down at him.

"Shoot."

He took a deep breath before he met her eyes and she wondered what could make him nervous. She hadn't seen him nervous since that first round of theirs four months ago.

"Is Nikki Heat really your real name?" he asked and she immediately looked away, turning her eyes to the roof.

"It doesn't matter," she said in a closed tone.

"Can I know?" he whispered and she clenched her eyes shut.

"No."

Her voice was firm and she could swear she could feel the sorrow he felt. And so she sighed, she couldn't stand him being upset with her, it felt... wrong.

"I'm sorry, but it's better for the both of us if we don't get personal," she told him and she heard him mumble something, though when she looked at him he didn't seem willing to repeat himself loud enough for her to actually hear.

"Can I at least get to know how you got into this line of work? My writer's mind is too curious for its own good," he questioned carefully.

Kate considered not answering, considered leaving without another word, because this was getting out of hand, and she should stop it. Should. _But you don't want to_ , a voice said in the back of her mind.

"I needed money, a friend had a solution, I took it and stayed," she summarized. "Now enough with the questions. Do you want to join me in a shower or go to bed?"

"Why not do both?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows at her and she smirked.

"That'd be great," her voice sultry enough for his eyes to darken yet again.

* * *

"You know, this is the best sex I've ever had," he told her with a sedated voice.

They laid beside each other in bed, both naked and bodies shining of sweat. _This was the best sex she'd ever had as well._ Not that she would ever let him know.

"I'll take that as a fact that you'll recommend me to your buddies then," she smirked and when he didn't answer she glanced at him.

"Not a chance, I'm keeping you to myself, those jerks can have whoever they already have," he grumbled and she couldn't help but bite her lip at that.

This was getting out of hand, and she knew it. It was bad enough she felt wrong about taking money for what they did but that he just practically told her he wanted her for himself? That was bad.

"Mr Castle, you do know I have more clients, right? And I need them all to pay my rent and such," she said, and she felt his previously soft body stiffen beside her.

"Why do you insist on calling me mr Castle? Why not just say Rick?" he asked and before she could answer he added, "I mean, you already moan and whimper my name when we're having sex so why can't you just... keep that up?"

She sighed.

"That's different. When we have sex I have a feeling you'd be turned off if you were reminded that this is, in fact, my job. I'm here to pleasure you. I'm here," she added in a more sultry voice, turning to him, "to make sure your hard man gets to have fun."

She let her fingers stroke the one thing she was talking about. She let her fingers wrap around him and started pumping slowly, and seeing his mouth open on a gasp had her insides fill with arousal again. It constantly surprised her how she never got tired of having sex with this man, she was never this patient with her other clients.

"So this really is strictly a job to you?" his question had her hand stopping abruptly.

 _No_.

"Yes. I need to pay my bills just like everyone else."

He let go of an 'oh' and she could hear the disappointment in his voice. For some reason she felt a strange pull in her chest but she did her best to ignore it while she started pumping him again, trying to get their thoughts elsewhere. It had been another two months since he asked her to know her name, her _real_ name, and she wondered if she had let it go too far. Yet she couldn't bring herself to end it, especially not when he moaned her name, or her work name, the way he did.

Rick knew she was avoiding the talking, that she was working him up again in order to stop him from asking any more personal questions. She'd done the same thing every time he tried bringing something up, her name, her story, her feelings. He could swear he could _see_ in her eyes that she enjoyed his company as much as he enjoyed hers, and not only in a sexual matter. She'd even agreed to eating a late night dinner a few times, and then he wasn't thinking about those times when they ate from each other's bodies, he was thinking about those times when they had eaten dinner with clothes _on_.

He played with her, letting her take control over their situation, letting her take his mind off of the emotions swirling inside him. He groaned when her lips started kissing down his chest, soon wrapping around _him_. How could she make him feel so tingling and giddy if there was nothing more there? She was making him go crazy! It didn't take long before he was pushing her away from him in order to trap her body between him and his mattress. His lips attached to her shoulder, nipping his way to her neck where he kissed her with open mouth to let his tongue leave a wet trail. He felt her whole body shiver in ecstasy when he blew on it, before sucking on that spot he'd found a month after they met. She was whimpering and moaning his name as if her life depended on it and he couldn't be more proud. Reaching down he could feel how wet and ready she was, and so he teased her with his fingers.

"Oh god, Rick! Please, just... aah!" she called out right before he pushed into her wet folds.

As he thrust into her he pulled away in order to watch her features. She had her eyes closed and the look on her face told him she was in full bliss. He knew she wouldn't let him kiss her, no matter how much any of them wanted to, so he dived down to her neck again, giving her as much kisses as he could while he let his hand move into her hair, fiddling with it and massaging her scalp. He felt her clamp around him and he quickly decided he wanted her to go first, letting his free hand go down to rub her right where she'd want him to. She screamed out his name as her orgasm hit her and he had to concentrate not to fall over with her like he usually did. He slowed down but kept moving, prolonging her high. It wasn't until she was coming down that he sped up again, thrusting faster and harder, and she gasped with what he assumed was surprise. He latched on to her breast with his mouth, sucking hard and it didn't take long before he brought her over the edge again. This time he followed immediately, shooting his seed inside her as he prolonged their ecstasy for as long as he could. Somehow he managed to pull out of her and roll off her before he collapsed, exhausted, by her side. It took a long time for them to catch their breaths, even longer for her than it normally did and if it hadn't been inappropriate, and he wasn't exhausted, he would've made a small celebratory dance.

"What the hell Rick?!" her tone was a lot more accusing than he thought it would, almost scolding.

"Wha-what's wrong?" he immediately asked, meeting her eyes.

Her hazel green eyes showed fear and anger, two emotions he realized he didn't want to see in her beautiful face.

"You're not supposed to... _I'm_ the..." her voice died out before she could say whatever was on her mind and Rick tried his best to figure out what she was talking about.

Suddenly, without a warning, she got up from his bed and started dressing, immediately alarming him something was wrong. _Why would she be leaving?_ He tried asking her but she was silent during the whole dressing part, it wasn't until she turned around and he saw she set steps towards his bedroom door that he jumped up and grabbed her arm to stop her. She yanked her arm away from him and wouldn't meet his eyes even though he tried to search for them.

"This arrangement is over mr Castle, I hope you've enjoyed my services but I can no longer keep you as a client," she sounded like she was reading from a script and he felt his heart clench in horror.

"What, why?!" he questioned and grabbed her arm again when she tried to move away from him.

She once again got loose and he followed when she walked to his outdoor. It wasn't until she put her hand on the handle that he once again stopped her by taking her hand.

"This has gone on for too long, I'm afraid you've gotten attached to me. Which is why I will refer you to another one of my colleagues, we will never see each other again," she said and he could swear her voice was thick with cries.

"Wha-no! Please, Nikki, don't leave. What did I do wrong?" he pleaded, he knew he was showing exactly what she just told him she was leaving because of but he couldn't help it.

It felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest.

"Thank you mr Castle. It's been a pleasure giving you what you desired," she said, not meeting his eyes, before she pulled away and walked out of the door.

He looked after her, seeing she was now running down the hall towards the elevator, probably afraid he would follow her. The second the doors were closing he saw her eyes wander upwards and just before the doors closed, her eyes met his for a second and he could see everything. The pain. The fear. The regret.


	3. Chapter Three

_I just want to take a small moment for some anonymous guest reviewers to say: if you don't like this story, then DON'T READ IT. I'm not forcing anyone to read it._

 _Now, to those who keep reading and keeps cheering me on: THANK YOU SO MUCH! You have no idea what your reviews mean to me! They're the lights in the darkness I fall into sometimes. So thank you, and here you have the next chapter, xxx:_

* * *

Days passed by, days turning into weeks which soon turned into a whole month later. Rick tried calling her, but to his disappointment she didn't answer, not even once. It only took him three tries before he understood she had blocked his number, that didn't stop him from trying though. He couldn't help but sulk in his loft, silently praying she would come back. Some other woman had called a few days after she'd stormed out of his home, said she was told he looked for a new escort. He had been able to hear on the woman's voice she'd been shocked when he told her no, probably not used to hearing someone decline her services. She'd asked if he wanted another woman, as if it was something wrong with her, and he'd told her that he wasn't interested in the escort service anymore. If she'd brought up _her_ he wouldn't have hesitated once though, but she didn't. He didn't ask about her because he had a feeling she wanted nothing to do with him anymore. The dreams he had didn't help much at all, he kept seeing the pain and fear that had been in her eyes, he kept seeing her in a nice dress at a dinner his dreams cooked up. _God he wished he'd kissed her_.

A sudden knock on the door had him sighing, slowly raising from his desk where his laptop screen kept blinking 'You. Should. Be. Writing.' as his screensaver. His mother had come by more often than he'd like, ever since she'd noticed his moping after Nikki had left. He hadn't told her the whole story, only that he'd met someone who he couldn't have, and she had come back every now and then to be able to check up on him and ask him to tell her who this someone was. The knock started again, rapidly, and he wondered why his mother just couldn't grow some patience for once.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" he shouted out, tired of not getting enough sleep.

 _How could one woman make him feel this empty?_ _They hadn't even known each other that well!_

"Mother, why can't you just..." he started opening the door but as soon as he saw it wasn't his mother on the other side of the door his voice died out. "Nikki?!"

He felt his heart skip a beat, taking in her appearance.

"What the hell happened?!" he yelped when his eyes caught the cut above her right eye as well as the upcoming bruise around it.

Her eyes were filled with tears, her lip broken, and he felt his chest shatter at the sight. He fought the urge to pull her into his chest, her body looking way too fragile for that kind of movement.

"I-I'm sorry," she stumbled on her words, "I didn't have a-anywhere else to go."

Kate watched the man in front of her move out of the way in order to let her inside, and she slowly let her legs carry her inside. She tried not to let the pain striking up her body for each step she took express on her face, not wanting him to see how much it truly hurt. His eyes were on her though, she could feel how he searched her face, tried to search her eyes but she wouldn't let him see into them fully.

"Who did this to you? Nikki?" his voice displayed worry and she was suddenly starting to regret her decision.

"This was a bad idea, I'm sorry I came, I sh..." as she was starting to back away again he gently laid his hand on her back to stop her from fleeing.

"No, you stay here," he said, carefully pushing her towards his bedroom.

"Mr. Castle, I can't..."

"I know, _god_ that's _not_ what I had in mind! I have bandages in my bathroom, come on, sit on the bed and _wait there_ ," he immediately said, she could definitely hear he feared she would leave.

He wouldn't leave her side until she sat on his bed and had given him a convincing nod. She actually considered leaving, but, like she said, she literally had nowhere else to go. When he came back he held everything needed to clean wounds and she bit her lip, forgetting for a second it was broken, and let go of it again with a gasp.

"Easy, Nikki," he whispered as he started with taking care of the cut left above her eye.

She couldn't help but observe his face as his eyes were focused on the wound. He looked so concerned, it killed her.

"I'm sorry I came Mr. Castle," she said and she saw him rolling his eyes.

"Stop with the formals. You made it pretty clear you didn't want me near you," he said, and even though his statement was irritated with a hint of anger it was clear she had caused him pain.

She felt her lip quiver at that, her eyes watering, and she realized she had her mouth opened.

"I'm..." she couldn't seem to form any more words, so she closed her mouth.

He carefully put a small bandage over her cut and surprised her by kissing it tenderly before he attended to her lip. Her breath hitched at the affection he showed through his actions.

"Tell me what happened Nikki, please," he pleaded with a low voice.

She took a deep breath, preparing herself for whatever would come next. She was not supposed to share anything about her life with her clients, not even the slightest, most boring information.

"I'm not your client anymore," he mumbled and she cursed herself for thinking out loud.

"I-I... I'm sorry," she suddenly broke down, her tears streaming down her face like it hadn't since she lost her parents.

She hid herself in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably with her body shaking and _god she hated this_. She absolutely _hated_ opening up in front of people, she _hated_ not being able to control her emotions, she _hated_ that... that... She sighed in between her sobs. _She hated that she felt so comfortable around him_.

"Breathe Nikki, breathe. Come on, breathe with me, in," he took a deep breath, "and out," he exhaled.

He kept breathing like that, exaggerating each inhale and exhale in order to get her to calm down. When it didn't work she felt his arms coming around her, pulling her into a comfortable hug. It didn't take long before she found herself snuggling into him, her sobbing muffled into his broad chest. He held her close and for the first time in a month, she finally felt safe.

* * *

Kate laid with her head on his chest, on his bed. Sometime, when her tears had run out, he'd put some cold, soft, relieving moisturizer onto her bruises and pulled her up in his bed in order to hold her close in his arms. They'd been quiet, none of them wanting to disturb the silence, both afraid what more questions would lead to. Her body felt melted into his, as if their bodies were shaped to be laying together like they did. And she made a decision she had promised herself never to make, opening her mouth she just let it out.

"Kate," her voice was rough, throaty because of the crying. "My name's Kate."

She felt his body shift a little, and she slowly met the blue eyes looking down on her. There was shock to be read in them, and she wondered if he'd given up hope of ever finding out. Perhaps he'd even given up hope of ever seeing her again.

"Kate?" he asked and she was about to bite her lip but managed to stop herself before she reopened her wound. "I like it, a beautiful name on a beautiful woman," his voice was nothing more than a whisper.

She felt her cheeks turn redder at his comment.

"Kate, what happened?"

His eyes were as soft as she'd ever seen them, and she couldn't understand how she could've thought she could live without them.

"New client," she sighed, "I don't know what he thought but... he started doing stuff I didn't... he was too violent and as many times before I told him that if he kept that up I would have to end our arrangement. He wouldn't... stop."

Her lips were quivering again and _god she hated this. Why couldn't she just be strong?!_

"I tried to... I really tried to get away," she sniffed and his arms tightened around her in a carefully but strong hug.

"Shh, you don't have to tell me any more," he hushed, kissing the top of her head.

He surprised her, but then again, when hadn't he? He made her feel safe, even though he shouldn't. There was no explanation how it was even possible.

"You know, when that other woman called I thought for sure you would never ever talk to me again. I'm so glad I was wrong," he confessed into the dark night.

"I'm sorry," her whisper was hushed down, and he told her it was okay, nothing to worry about.

He kept whisper reassuring nonsenses, things she couldn't help but feel like she needed to leave this wonderful man alone. She didn't deserve his friendship. She wasn't worth his troubles, yet he was laying there and holding her as if she was the most fragile belonging he had in his possession. As if she was one of the people he cared about, like _really_ cared about. Before she knew anything else his massaging ministrations with his fingers on her face and in her hair had softened her down into a sweet slumber.

Rick immediately felt relief in his body when he heard her sniffing breaths turning into deep sleepy ones. Looking down at her face he could see she was far away from there right now, in the land of sleep. He hoped to the bottom of his heart that she wouldn't have any nightmares. He had witnessed that once. A couple months ago he had managed to hold her back in bed long enough for her to fall asleep in his arms, despite her objections about needing to keep boundaries and therefore needing to leave he'd managed to hold her back by kissing everywhere on her face, except for the lips then, and massaging her naked back. At that point he knew he was screwed, he knew that he was crossing a line with her, but he didn't want to stop. She had finally given up hopes of leaving his bed when he'd started massaging her scalp, which he found quite amusing. That's when he knew she was unable to resist him, that she liked his touch as much as he liked hers. It was also then that he started noticing her glances to his lips, glances he knew she made unconsciously, and he had a feeling she'd made them a whole lot longer than he'd noticed.

That night he'd woken to her screams once, and managed to at least get her to tell him what the nightmare had been about before she disappeared out his door. She'd only said three words, 'my parents' deaths', and he'd tried to calm her down, to keep her from leaving, but she'd insisted by saying she was only his escort and he was only her client. He didn't buy that anymore, and especially not after seeing her eyes when she left him that day a month ago. Her eyes had told him she didn't want to leave, that it _pained_ her to leave, but something scared her, and he didn't know what. This night he hoped she would stay, after whatever she'd been through earlier he hoped she would sleep deep, without any nightmares. He wouldn't let himself join her in the world of sleep until she'd been out for about an hour, then he was way too tired to be able to keep his eyes open. He kissed her hair one last time and secured his arms around her, hoping that he would wake if something disturbed her.

* * *

Kate stirred awake a couple hours after she'd fallen asleep, at first confused about where she was but immediately recognizing the comfy bed she was in, along with the arms still around her. She looked up at him, seeing he was asleep, and her mind kept spinning around with questions like ' _why would he help her?_ ' and ' _what have I done?_ '. They weren't allowed to have relationships so she hadn't really ever thought too much about that before, but now she wondered if the things she felt for him might be more than just him being her client.  
And she couldn't help but wonder...?

Carefully Kate untangled herself from his arms, trying her best not to wake him from his slumber. One part of her wanted him to wake up, but another was afraid that if he did, she would get scared and not do what her mind was set to. She moved slowly till her face was in line with his, looking down at his peaceful expression, and wondered if she really should or if it was a bad idea. _No, you can!_ She smoothly, almost without touching at all, let their lips connect in a way she hadn't allowed before.


	4. Chapter Four

_Here's the fourth chapter, thank you for your previous reviews and hope you enjoy! xx_

* * *

Kate knew she had crossed a line she had set up but when his eyes suddenly opened she knew there was absolutely _no turning back_. Because when she saw his blue, surprise-filled eyes there was no doubt that he didn't want the same. His head pushed up in order to let their mouths smudge together, instead of the light almost non-touch she'd made. One of his hands tangled itself into her long brown hair as he pulled her closer to keep her from pulling away, not that he would force her to stay if she wanted to stop. Kate melted into the kiss much like she had melted into his body every time they'd made lo... had sex. When his tongue shocked her by running by her lower lip she parted her lips as if in a trance, and when their tongues met she was high. Her head felt dizzy, her body roared with a newfound arousal she had never felt before and she moaned, louder and more desire-filled than she'd ever done. It was like she was high on him, as if his taste was a new drug she couldn't stay away from.

When he pushed her down in the mattress, keeping their mouths locked while turning with her, she knew she was long gone. She wanted him, _truly wanted him_. And not as in 'she needed money so let's have some fun so she can get it' but in a _very_ different way. His hips started grinding into hers and she immediately met his grinds with her own, it was like she didn't have to think of what to do next for once. Her body was responding immediately to his without any effort. It was even less effort than she had before considering she didn't have to think about not kissing his lips anymore, since their lips were already smudged together. She felt like she could finally let go, finally be herself, and she let her hands go from where they had been resting at his back to the hem of his shirt. It surprised her how much her hands trembled as she pulled it up his body, almost as if she hadn't done this before, almost as if she was nervous. Their lips parted long enough for his shirt to leave his body completely, and to her surprise he only slowed down after that. His lips returned to hers with a smooth motion, his fingers reaching to find hers only to push them to lay beside her head. He intertwined their fingers, hugging her hands tightly and she let her fingers return the hug. It felt as though her heart was expanding and she wondered how that was possible. She had never felt like she did with him, everything was heightened. His touch especially.

His fingers left hers to slide down her arms into her upper body and she shivered at the sensation. His lips left hers and his body followed his fingers down to the hem of her shirt. She wondered what he was doing but couldn't find the strength to raise and look down at him. Only a few seconds after she'd pushed away the thought of raising up to cure her curiosity she felt his fingers carefully lifting the hem of her shirt, his lips finding her bare skin within milliseconds. She felt her belly shudder at the touch, but his lips continued upwards, kissing every inch as he slid up her shirt. Her breathing was uneven a little now and then, and when his lips came to her breasts her breath hitched. He gave her breasts equal gentle attention before he continued to her neck, placing open mouthed kisses everywhere. Lastly, when he pulled the shirt over her head his lips found hers and the kiss was as gentle as every small kiss he'd laid all over her body. Her whole body was tingling after his ministrations and it certainly didn't stop when their bodies were finally bare of any clothing, mending together like two magnets attracted to each other. Kate had never understood how people could express themselves as making love when they had sex, but now, being one with _his_ body, every motion slow and beautiful, she could finally see it.

* * *

As Rick woke up he looked around in his bed, feeling a bit colder than he thought he would, and realized why. He was alone. Where'd she go? Was she even here? _Yes. She must've._ He couldn't take it if she hadn't. Because if it had all been a dream he didn't know what he would do. Wouldn't know how to live on because it had all been so amazing. _She_ was amazing. A sudden movement had his head snapping towards his bedroom door, in which she came through and _was that his white shirt?_

"Hey," she said with surprise and a frightened glimpse could be seen in her eyes as her smile grew wide.

"Hi," he said, feeling so dumb for smiling as wide as he did.

No one had ever made him feel like this, if he didn't know better he would describe his behavior as a teenage girl talking to her crush for the first time.

"I-uh, made coffee," she offered, raising one of the cups she had in her hands.

He sat up better in his bed, waiting for her to come to him but she seemed to have stopped in her tracks and he wasn't sure if it was because of insecurities or surprise that he had awoken. He carefully gestured for her to sit down in his bed, hoping she wouldn't flee again. It didn't take more than one second before she had picked up her walk again and handed him a coffee cup before sitting down.

"Thanks," he said with a brilliant smile set on his lips.

He couldn't help it! He was so damn happy it hadn't been a dream! She was here, she was _actually here_. And she'd kissed him, on the lips! Her one rule to maintain professional, to keep away the emotions, and she'd broken it! _With_ _him_ _!_ That must mean she felt something for him too! He wasn't just another client like she had tried to imply!

Her cheeks were a light shade of pink and he wondered what she was flustered about. Wondered what she was feeling and thinking of.

"So, uhm, Kate," the use of her real name had her immediately looking up at him with a small fear, "You'll stay right? I mean, I want you to stay."

She was looking down again, searching for answers in her coffee by the looks of it. His fingers itched to hold her hand, tell her everything was going to be alright, but he refrained himself to make sure he wouldn't push her away. Now that they were close enough he could see the bruising caused by someone else's hand on her face. The cut in her forehead, the one above her right eye, and the wound at her lower lip more visible due to the light from the day outside his window.

"I... I really shouldn't have come here last night," she mumbled and he shook his head.

"Why..." he sighed, "Kate, what has you so afraid that you can't talk to me? I can help you, I can..." now it was her turn to shake her head, violently.

"No."

Her voice was strong and determined, as if to say there was nothing more to discuss about it.

"I have money, more than enough, you know I'm a famous writer! Hell, you even helped me with some of the scenes remember? I could pay you for that if you can't take the money without doing something for them," he said hastily, not wanting to pick a fight but he was afraid he'd loose her again if he didn't say his mind.

"Ri... Mr. Castle I-"

"Don't! No Mr. Castle. I know you don't want that anymore, you _kissed_ me! And I'll be damned if I'd let you go now that I know," he took a few deep breaths to collect himself.

She looked as though she wanted to cry, and he wasn't sure if it was because of his words getting through to her or because she was afraid of him. He hoped she wasn't afraid of him. He wasn't like that other monster who'd laid his hands on her beautiful skin, who'd crossed the line and hurt her. He carefully reached out his hand to take the cup in her hand, to his relief she didn't flinch even the smallest. Once he got a hold of it he put both their cups on the nightstand and reached out to gently pick up her hand in his.

"Look Kate, I understand if you _want_ to leave, that's different, I would never hold you here if it wasn't what you wanted, but I have a feeling you don't want to leave. And I can't live with myself if I let you push me away knowing you want me as much as I want you."

His thumb was rubbing over the back of her hand in smooth circles, and he could hear in her breath how much it affected her. How her whole body leaned a little further at the touch.

"You don't understand, I can't just quit. I owe them... _so much_. This is the only way I can repay them, and I can't... I can't have you," she muttered low.

"Whatever you owe I can pay, I can help you get back on your feet," he offered but she shook her head.

"I don't want your money Rick."

"I know." He gave her a genuine smile, "but I would love to wake up to this sight every morning. You even took my shirt," he nodded meaningly towards the white shirt she wore and he got a smile out of her.

He felt relieved, he had managed to get her to think about something else. Somehow he had a feeling she wouldn't want to talk about it anymore, and it looked like he was right by the look she was giving him.

"Yeah, the shirt I had didn't really feel like a comfortable way to move around in this time of the day," she answered, a small grin taking form on her lips.

"Well, I agree I like this vision better," he confessed and her belly fluttered with an excitement only he could create.

Kate was frightened by how he could make her feel, but at the same time she hadn't felt safer than when she was in his company, ever. That was the reason she'd gone to his loft the night before, she knew he would make her feel safe after the beatings she'd taken. Kate felt Rick's hand rubbing smooth circles on her hand and she snapped out of her thoughts.

"So, you wanna have breakfast? I can cook us something," he said and it was a really bad idea but she agreed.

They rose from the bed and Rick put on some boxers before they grabbed their coffee cups to drink as they went to the kitchen. They decided on an omelette which Rick promised she would absolutely love, because he'd been told it was the best in the city. Kate had a feeling he was one of those people who constantly needed sounds around them because not once did he let the silence be too long.

"You know, my mother has terrible cooking skills, that's why you'll taste the best omelette of all times. You see, since she was most certainly going to poison us with her food I took over that part as soon as I could," he babbled on. "This one time she almost gave me raw chicken, thank god I cut it in half before putting it in my mouth!" he chuckled and she couldn't stop the small laugh escaping her lips from how dramatic he sounded.

He quickly glanced at her and in that quick second she could see a proud glimpse in his eyes, probably proud about pulling yet another laugh from her. She pursed her lips in an attempt to keep her excitement down.

"Besides she had lots of plays during the evening so once I was old enough I _had_ to make the dinner for myself, it was either that or starve," he dramatized his words by waving the spatula he was using for the omelette.

"Your mother was in the theatre?" Kate asked carefully.

"Yeah, she's an actress, an overly dramatic one," he gave her a wink and she so wished her whole being wouldn't feel _so good_ when he did that. "What about your parents? What did they do?" he asked, and she could sense how he tried to sound as casual as possible.

"I can't reveal personal information," she just said on auto pilot.

"Kate, I think we're past that," he said and when she glanced up at him through her eyelashes she saw some thought cross his eyes.

He let go of the spatula to put his hands on each of her hips and pulled her close, so close that her heart skipped a beat. When he leaned down to put his face closer to hers she felt her heart quicken as her mind went to the thoughts of his lips against hers, but he stopped before they could touch. He didn't pull away, no, he stayed exactly so close that she could feel him without them actually touching. She could only take as much, and so she put a stop to the pull she felt inside her by stepping onto her toes. The second their lips touched she forgot all about what she _should_ do and remembered how much she just wanted to stay right there, in his hold. _God she wanted him_. How was one man possible to make her feel so... _alive_? It was like she hadn't been alive before, and now when she was kissing him, she never wanted him to stop. They pulled away slowly, neither of them wanting to but both of them needing air.

"Yeah, maybe we are," Kate gave up, there was no use to fight it anymore.


	5. Chapter Five

Rick kept stalling, coming up with reasons why she didn't have to leave just yet. After they'd eaten their breakfast he suggested a movie which she just _had_ to see if she hadn't already. She didn't know if he noticed but she lied, telling him she hadn't seen it because of course she was stalling too. Plus it gave her a chance to cuddle up with him on the couch, being intimate in a whole different level than they had before, and she _loved it._ She loved how she fit so perfectly into his body with her head resting in the crook of his neck, and the way his fingers kept on fiddling with her long hair by her shoulders. A part of her told her she couldn't get used to it, that she didn't belong there, but she couldn't help but hear a small voice in the back of her head screaming ' _you already have_ '. Before she even knew it she had spent the whole day at his loft, watching movies, eating lunch and dinner, oh, and popcorn! Also they had kissed a lot, it was as if the thing that had held them back was gone and it didn't go too long between the times their lips connected. One of their kisses were interrupted at around 7pm, when her phone suddenly started ringing angrily. The second she glanced up into his eyes she saw how concerned he was immediately, worried about her. She gave him a sorrowed look before she walked away to find and answer. Upon seeing the number she answered as usual, knowing exactly who it was.

"Nikki Heat, what can I pleasure you with?"

"There you are! We've been looking everywhere for you! Where the hell have you been?! Why didn't you call in last night after your appointment?!" his loud voice almost had Kate pulling away from the phone, her nose cringing at the anger she could sense.

"I'm sorry, there was an incident and I had to leave before I could fulfill the job. The client got too aggressive, I'd appreciate it if you don't ever send any of us over there again," Kate told her former foster father.

"Aggressive how? Can Bianca take him?" he answered and Kate shuddered.

"No, not aggressive in a sexual way."

Kate made sure to keep her voice steady, because she knew if he sensed the smallest bit of hesitation he would send her foster sister over almost immediately to make sure to keep the client.

"Okay. Why didn't you come home then? Where are you?" he was harsh, not that that was unusual, still didn't mean she liked it.

"I'm... at a friend's house. Needed to take a break after the incident."

She hated this. She wasn't really supposed to _be_ at a friend's house, and definitely _not_ at _his_ house.

" _Where_ exactly?" he questioned.

There was a sudden pressure to her shoulder and she jumped at the touch, turning to see Rick holding his hand out where her shoulder had just been.

"I-uh... I'll come home in about half an hour. I'll just assemble my things and be on my way," she said and he kept shaking his head during each and every one of her words.

She put her hand over his lips when they opened, denying him of speaking because she knew it was no good idea to let the man on the other end of the call to hear him in the background.

"If you're not home in thirty minutes I'll personally come get you."

The call ended abruptly and Kate sighed. Rick took her hand in his in order to pull it away from his mouth while she dropped her other hand from her ear.

"You can't leave," he said and she sucked in her bottom lip, nagging the wound she had there with her teeth. "Please. Don't leave," he leaned his body closer to hers and she took a step back.

"I can't _stay_. Rick, this is my job, my life. I've had an amazing day but... I need to go back," Kate pulled her hand back from his but he quickly snagged it back in his grasp, pulling her towards him.

"You _can_ stay Kate, I can help you fix this, I can help you get out of it," his other hand landed on her hip, his thin shirt doing nothing to prevent the electricity from transferring into her skin.

She was having trouble breathing, because his promises was exactly what she wanted, but she also knew it was what she couldn't have. His touch was taking her breath away, stealing her words from her mouth. Her feet carried her backwards, trying to get away from his _oh so exciting touch_ , but he simply followed and before she knew it her back hit a wall, his body closing into hers.

"I had to live a month without knowing if I'd ever see you again," he breathed out, his eyes filled with fear.

Fear of loosing her if she read them right, and the way she was feeling she figured her eyes mirrored his. She was cornered by his body, and even though the position could've been considered threatening in another situation she had never felt more safe than she did with him. Her eyes flickered down to his lips, _oh those lips, she wished she could kiss them all day_.

"I know you feel the same, why deny it Kate?"

 _Because she has to._ She closed the distance between their lips, kissing him with a force so fierce she nearly knocked him backwards. There was nothing she could do, her body and mind craved him. Her _heart_ craved him. His hands sneaked under her, his, shirt, his fingers playing with the hem of her panties. She gasped when they dipped inside, moaned when he touched her the way he knew she couldn't resist.

"This is so much more than just sex, I know you can feel it too," he mumbled against her lips, his tongue seeking permission to dance with hers.

The second she let him in his hands moved back to her hips, lifting her up into his arms, her legs immediately wrapping around him to support her weight. He walked them to his bed, putting her down gently to follow her down with his body on top of hers. She stripped him off his clothes, and he stripped her off hers. Their naked bodies connected to each other only minutes after and the air was filled with moans of 'more' and 'oh god's. Him groaning her name, her real name, was so much more beautiful than she thought it'd be. He was right. It was so much more than sex, it was love.

* * *

She'd sang him to sleep after their love making. Hadn't known it would work until she started humming a lullaby and he'd told her she should continue. He'd told her she had the voice of an angel. It pained her more than she thought it was going to. Her tears couldn't stop from flowing down her face as she finally arrived at the house, her home.

"There you are!" the blonde she'd known since she was sixteen came out running towards her with open arms. "Dad said you'd be home two hours ago!"

Her foster sister stopped a few feet in front of her with a scared look in her eyes.

"What happened?" she asked Kate.

"Bianca, I'm not in the mood," Kate said but when she tried to walk past the blonde she stopped her with hands to her shoulders.

"I can see that! God, who did this to you? Who made you cry and why the hell would they beat you?!" she continued to question.

"Leave me alone B, and _why_ on god's earth do you keep referring to him as _dad_? He was thinking of sending you to that scum of a client I met with yesterday," Kate snapped, couldn't stand think about it like she did.

"Because he's the closest thing I've had to a dad, you know that Ka-Nikki. He and mom brought me in when I was six, they're the only family I know," Bianca gave her a meaningful look.

"Nikki! I said thirty minutes, _not two hours_!"

The voice of her former foster father had Kate flinching before she took a deep breath and prepared herself for what was to come.

"I'm sorry sir," Kate said, knowing any excuses she had wouldn't be enough.

"Oh well, go inside, let Margaret take a look at that," he said when his eyes landed on her face.

Kate only nodded before she left him and Bianca to walk into the house she'd called home for the last years. The second she stepped inside her former foster mother came down the stairs with a worried look in her eyes.

"Kate! Oh my god, what happened to you?!" her immediate worry could've been comforting, but Kate was past that.

Kate had known how parents were supposed to be, her own parents had after all been there for her for sixteen years before they died. Margaret's hand reached for her face, to the blue mark around her eye, but Kate flinched and moved away her head before she could touch her.

"I'm fine," she said but her former foster mother gave her a look.

"I can see you're not Katie..."

"Stop! Don't you call me that! Ever." she interrupted her with a force she hadn't dared using before.

Only her real parents were allowed to call her that. Margaret had tried a couple times but Kate had just shook her head and gently asked her not to, because it had reminded her too much of her parents being dead. While in reality it wasn't just a reminder but also wrong, it felt wrong hearing someone else call her something only her parents had. Margaret looked stunned at Kate's outburst, probably because she had never heard her snap like that. Kate didn't apologize either, just walked past her former foster mother up the stairs to be able to get to her room. Closing the door behind her she walked straight to her bed, falling down to her knees in order to pull out the box she kept under it. She could feel her eyes swell with tears when she opened the lid, seeing the first picture she had made sure would be the first she saw whenever she needed to open it. It was a picture of her mom and dad, holding her, their three year old daughter, in the middle of them while gazing lovingly at each other. _Lovingly_. _Love_. _Wasn't that the way he looked at her?_ She looked closer to her parents' eyes, and yes, there it was! _That glimpse right there!_ She could swear she'd seen that glimpse in his eyes!

"Knock knock!"

Kate jumped at the sudden sound and quickly covered the box with the lid before turning her head towards the door. Bianca stood with the door open only slightly, giving Kate a sorrowed expression. Kate was about to bite her lip but the second her teeth scrapped her wound she winced.

"Can I come in?" Bianca asked and when Kate nodded she walked inside, closing the door behind her. "You miss your parents?"

"Every single day," Kate sighed, remembering when she had first shown the box to her foster sister.

"But..." Bianca started, hesitating, "that's not why you're so down?"

Kate gave her a look. She did _not_ want to talk about it. There was no way she was going to tell her about... anything.

"Where exactly did you go after that client got, uh, aggressive?"

Kate stayed quiet.

"I won't tell them, if that's what you think. Come on, Kate." After a few more seconds of silence she dared to ask, "Did you meet someone?"

"What? No!" Kate immediately denied and she cursed herself for the instant reaction. "I did not meet someone," she murmured.

Bianca gasped with her eyes going wide, "You did!" Before Kate could argue she continued with her questions, "Who is he? When did you meet him? Is he a client? Wait, is it a she?"

"B, stop, I didn't meet someone, I'm..."

The sound of her phone ringing interrupted her, and when she glanced on the screen lighting up on the floor she felt her heart stop with fear. He must've stolen her phone during the day when she hadn't seen, because the phone was displaying a picture of the two of them kissing... _on the lips_.

"Ooooh, who's this?" Bianca said and before Kate could grab it she had already snatched the phone from the floor.

"Give me my phone!" Kate exclaimed with fear written all over her face.

"Hello, Nikki's phone," Bianca answered it and Kate jumped to her feet in order to reach for her phone.

"Uh, where's K-Nikki?" she swore she would kill him for that slip.

"He _knows_ _your name_?" Bianca said out loud and Kate immediately hushed her, fearing they would hear.

"Can you just shut up B, he doesn't... give me my phone," she reached for the phone once again and this time she managed to snatch it from her foster sister. "Ri-Mr. Castle, I can't talk right now. We'll have to book an appointment..."

"Where are you? I woke up and you weren't here?" her heart shattered at how devastated he sounded.

"I-I'm," Kate looked at Bianca, who gave her a raised eyebrow, she sighed, "I'm at home."

"Are you coming back?" Rick asked pleadingly.

"Not tonight," Kate said and she could hear the hope in his voice.

"But you are coming back?"

She sighed, "Yes." She probably wasn't supposed to hear it but she could vaguely hear him whisper 'thank god'. "I'll text you later," Kate ended the call, took a deep breath and turned to Bianca. "So, I guess I met a guy."

"I guess you did," Bianca said with an excitement she had only witnessed when they had discussed a great book about love. "So, tell me about him."


	6. Chapter Six

_Once again, thank you for all your reviews, hope you enjoy! xx_

* * *

"So, what are you gonna do?" Bianca asked, too excited for Kate's taste.

" _I don't know!_ " she cried out with frustration clear in her eyes.

"But you love him?" Bianca questioned.

"Noo..." she dragged out on the word, because how could she possibly know?

Bianca gave her a look before her hands went for the box Kate had dragged out before the blonde had entered her room. Kate observed as her foster sister opened the lid with great care before she gently picked up the picture on top.

"Was this the way he looked at you? The way you looked at him?" she asked and before Kate could say anything she added, "Because if it were, I'm pretty sure it's love. Your parents loved each other, you used to say it yourself! When we first met you were obsessed with finding a love like theirs, what happened?"

Kate snorted, "You know damn well what happened. I got into the business."

"Yes but... that doesn't mean that love doesn't exist," Bianca tried.

"No, but it does mean I can't have it," Kate mumbled.

" _But you already have_!" Bianca exclaimed.

A beep interrupted them, and when Kate looked at her phone she couldn't help but roll her eyes as she saw it was a text message from him. Bianca just simply smirked at her with knowing eyes, as if the text was proving her point. Kate picked up her phone to read the message.

 _"I know you said you'd text but I just want to make sure you know I miss you already. Please don't leave again. xx"_

Kate sighed with frustration, because she _missed him too_ and she had no idea why she felt the way she did! It felt empty without him. How was that even possible? Why did she feel as though he was the only one she needed? She'd been with too many men to count, and so why was he so different? What made her want him on a level she had never felt before?

"Why don't you go to him?" Bianca interrupted her thoughts.

"I can't B, you know I can't."

"But you said it yourself, you went to him yesterday because it felt more like home than it does here. Go home Kate."

She shook her head, "I can't leave."

"But you can't stay," Bianca insisted and Kate gave her a look. " _You can't,_ " her foster sister gave out a frustrated groan. "Ok, look. How about this, I cover for you for a few days and you _go home_ to see what this is. I'm not taking no for an answer!" she added when Kate opened her mouth in protest.

There was a knock on the door and so both women froze at the realization someone else could've heard what they were talking about. Kate quickly recovered, putting the pictures of her parents inside the box before she hid it under the bed again. Her actions only took a couple seconds and once the box was safely hidden from view she told whoever was on the other side to come in. When the door opened it was none other than Margaret.

"What are you two whispering about?" she asked, almost motherly.

If it hadn't been for Kate seeing her as her boss, Margaret could've easily been taken as a mother.

"Nothing, just talking work," Bianca lied immediately, if it weren't for Kate knowing it was a lie she would've believed it herself.

"About the man who hurt you?" Margaret asked coming inside to sit down on the floor in front of the girls.

"Yeah, he's never touching any of us again," Kate said with determination in her eyes.

"Agreed, can't have my girls getting hurt," Margaret nodded.

"Mom, what would you do if one of your girls wanted out?" Bianca asked and Kate froze, staring at Bianca with wide eyes. "I might've heard someone mention it earlier and I just wonder if it's possible?" she added, so as to not give Margaret any indication that it was one of them.

Kate schooled her features before she gave herself away, not knowing if she would want her former foster mother to know Bianca was most likely talking about her.

"Who wants to leave?" Margaret immediately asked.

"I don't know, whoever said it didn't seem to want everyone to know," Bianca shrugged her shoulders.

"Well," Margaret dragged out, buying time and looking like she needed to think before she continued, "I guess I can't hold it against anyone, it's not like we took you in only for this, but let's be honest, who of you would really have a chance to get another job now? You've all been in this business from a young age and you never went to college, how would you survive if it wasn't for this job?"

Kate felt her heart shatter, because she was right, how on earth would she get another job? She couldn't exactly put up prostitute on her resumé, that would most definitely get her nowhere.

"You don't think we could make it on our own?" Bianca seemed shocked, more shocked than Kate was and she wondered how her foster sister hadn't seen it coming.

"No, I don't," Margaret said and Kate could hear the fake sorrow she tried to put on for them, the worst part was that Bianca seemed to fall for it. "And I hate to say it but if you'd leave we would probably not be able to help you when you get into trouble, which you most probable will."

Thinking she was a mother was the worst mistake Bianca would do. Kate knew from the moment she got here she couldn't trust her foster parents, but Bianca had been here since she was six and Kate couldn't blame her for thinking as a daughter. Hell, if Kate had gotten here earlier in her life she would've probably thought the same! Margaret and Tom had only given it about a month or two before they introduced Kate to her new world. Shattering her life into a million pieces. Margaret raised from the floor, kissing their cheeks good night before she walked out the door.

"Go home," Bianca whispered into the comfort of silence.

"Wh... you heard her! She won't let any of us leave," Kate hissed as quiet as she could, fearing she might scream it if she let go of control.

"Maybe she doesn't want us to leave but I have a hard time thinking she'd force us to stay," Bianca replied confident.

Kate snorted, of course she'd force them to stay. Kate knew well of how secure the basement was. Bianca might not have seen it because she was too brainwashed to, but Kate knew how soundproof it was _and_ she didn't think the two foster parents would think twice before using it.

"Go home, Kate."

"I can't."

She couldn't stop the way she was choking on her words. Because it _would_ feel so great to go to him but... it felt like she was yearning for something she couldn't have. It would be better off if she didn't give into her longing, the more she met with him or talked with him the more she started to believe something was actually there, something she _could_ have.

"Yes, you can and you will. You remember how we used to sneak out of here when you first got here? How we used to climb down from the roof? If they find out you're gone I'll cover for you, say you got a client or something, just _go._ "

Before Kate knew what happened Bianca had pulled her up from the floor and pushed her towards the window.

* * *

Rick felt a small panic, and even though she had told him she would come back it didn't ease the fear from leaving his body. He kept wandering around in his apartment, thinking he should probably write but somehow he couldn't find peace enough within him to sit down in his office. He had to keep reminding himself she had said ' _Not tonight_ ' but still reassured him with a simple ' _Yes_ ' when he'd asked if she was coming back. So she _was_ coming back, and he wouldn't let his mind say otherwise... or _tried_ not to let it. _What if she didn't come back? What if she got in trouble? What if...?_ _No, stop._ Stopping his writer's mind from going to the dark corner wasn't easy, but it would only make it worse. He kept thinking thatmaybe, _just maybe_ , he could find out where she lived. He had friends in powerful places, friends who could easily track her phone if everything else failed. A constant reminder was that he didn't know her last name, otherwise it would've been easy to just search for her on the internet to see if he could find something there. A sudden knock on the door had his heart stopping, and he almost ran to the door in hope that it was _her_ , coming over even though she'd told him ' _Not tonight_ '.

"Hello darling," his mother was standing in the door opening and he let go of a frustrated groan.

 _What the hell was she doing here?_

"That's not a very pleasant welcome now is it?" she immediately scolded him and he gave her an apologizing look.

"I'm sorry mother, I just thought someone else might come over tonight," he told her, moving to invite her inside because, _let's face it_ , she's not coming over tonight.

When the redheaded woman had gotten into the loft she hung up her coat and turned to her son.

"Someone else? Someone else as in _someone_ else?" she questioned with surprised eyes.

Of course she immediately thought it was _her_ he was talking about. Because she had forced him into telling her what was wrong only a few days after _she_ left after finding him with red puffy eyes in his bed at 3 in the afternoon.

"Mother, what are you doing here this late? It's," he checked the time on his phone and shrieked, "10pm!"

"Oh shush, I had a play and I wanted to make sure you were okay," she waved in dismissal.

"I'm perfectly fine!" Rick exclaimed in frustration. _Why couldn't she leave him alone?!_

"You and I both know that's not true, not since whoever this woman is came into your life," his mother said with a pained accusation in her voice.

"She's not just _any_ woman," he immediately defended her, and his mother looked quite proud.

He clenched his eyes shut, seeing the trap she put out for him, a trap he so easily and stupidly fell into.

"I _knew it!_ " she triumphed. "You're in love with her!" she pointed to him with a sneaky grin and narrowed eyes.

"Mother!" he groaned, wiping his hands down his face.

"What? Just stating the facts," she shrugged her shoulders with a wink.

He groaned again, because... well, _because_! Why would she always go digging into his life? Didn't she have enough drama in her life filled with... well, _drama_? He was just about to scold her when there was a small knock on his door, only one quick, almost not loud enough to hear, tap. Almost as if the person regretted it the second the hand connected with the door. _Why would someone..._

"Wait!" he yelled out as he sprinted off to the door, feeling his mother's confused look on his back.

He pretty much tore up the door and there she was, standing with her back towards him as if she had been about to walk away. Her body was as frozen and he carefully took a step out the door to gently put a hand on her shoulder.

"Kate, you came back," he whispered, "tonight."

When his hand landed on her shoulder it was like all the tension left her body. Kate let go of a breath she'd been holding since Bianca practically threw her out of the window. When she turned around and saw his worried eyes, she immediately ducked into his chest, arms wrapping around him as she buried her nose in his shirt. She took a deep breath of his scent and she couldn't stop the hum of approval when his arms pulled her closer. They stood like that for a while, and Kate felt as though she was being pulled back together, as though the pieces that had broken since Tom called earlier that evening were finally mending together again.

"Is that her?"

The voice of a woman had Kate's eyes popping wide open in shock as she immediately pushed away from him, only she didn't get far because his hands stopped her by grabbing her arms.

"Don't be scared," he whispered, giving her a pleading look before he turned his head slightly and when Kate looked over his shoulder she saw an elderly redheaded woman stand only a couple feet away from them.

The woman looked genuinely excited about something and Kate felt a fear go down her spine. _What was happening? Who was..._

"Kate, this is," Rick sighed, "my mother. And mother, this is Kate."

 _His mother?!_

"Nice to finally meet you, darling," the redheaded woman, _his mother_ , said with a smile set on her lips.

"I-uh, likewise?" Kate said uncertainly, eyes darting between the two.

"Oh you don't have to be scared of me, dear, I'm not going to bite," his mother said, winking at her before she turned around and walked towards the kitchen.

Kate followed the woman with her eyes, not believing what she was witnessing.

"Don't leave, please," Rick whispered, barely loud enough for her to hear.

He closed the distance between them, his lips feathering a kiss to her forehead and it sent shockwaves into her skin. She wanted, _so badly_ , to stay, the only thing that made her heart beat faster was the thought of staying with him, but she was so damn scared. Her whole body frozen with fear of the unknown.

"Can I... can I stay here for a few days?" she asked, not knowing where her strength came from.

"Of course! I'd love that!" he said with an excited voice which should be terrifying her even more but it only evoked an excitement of her own in her body.

Carefully Rick took her hands and pulled her inside the loft, closing the door with his foot before he guided her towards the couch, figuring she wouldn't really feel comfortable by the counter in the kitchen where his mother stood, pouring three glasses of wine, _how did she even find that bottle?_ He thought he'd hidden that bottle so well this time. Kate let him pull her down in the couch when they got there, and she couldn't help but wonder how close she could sit to him without being too embarrassed of his mother watching them.

"Don't be nervous," he mumbled into her hair as she leaned her head onto his shoulder.

"Why would I be nervous about meeting the mother of my former client?" she grunted quietly and jumped at the sound of the elderly woman coming closer to them.

"So, Katherine, what a beautiful name you have! Do you know what it means?"

When the woman turned around the couch she put down one wine glass on the table before she reached out one each towards Kate and Rick. Rick immediately took one of the glasses from his mother and Kate hesitated for a few seconds before she accepted hers.

"Uhm, no," Kate answered, an uncertainty creeping around her body.

"It means pure," she said with a glimpse in her eyes as she sat down in an armchair across from the couch.

"It does?" Kate felt shock and by the looks the redhead got it was on display in her face.

"Why don't act so surprised, dear, beautiful name to a beautiful woman," she said with a dramatic wave of her hands.

"Mother..." Rick said in a warning tone.

"Oh shush," his mother said taking a sip of her wine.

Kate looked at Rick and managed to catch the eye roll he made before his eye met hers. He raised his glass towards her and before she knew it they were clinking glasses, drinking wine and chatting with his mother.


	7. Chapter Seven

"Goodnight dears, sleep tight both of you," Martha said with a wink as she opened the loft door.

"Goodnight!" both Rick and Kate said simultaneously.

When the door closed Rick slowly turned to the woman beside him, suddenly afraid she might want to leave too despite her question about staying for a couple of days.

"You told your mom about me?" Kate whispered out her question, not looking at him in fear of what she'd discover.

"Not technically, I never told her your name or how we met, only that I met someone who I thought I'd..." he stopped talking, not sure of how much she could take.

The first time she ran away it was because of the feelings he clearly had for her. They hadn't changed, but he didn't want to scare her away by giving voice to them.

"Who I found interesting and wanted to get to know more," he changed his words in order to still be able to tell her something.

Kate nodded, couldn't argue his thoughts. She felt his fingers peacefully sneak into her hand, and she didn't stop to think before her own fingers curled around his. Her heart skipped a beat as she felt their palms kiss. She glanced up at him from her side, feeling her heart flatter when her eyes met his blue ones.

"I shouldn't be here," she whispered her thought into the open.

"Yes, you should," he said, his hand hugging hers tighter.

"No," she whispered, stepping on her toes to peck his lips with hers. "I shouldn't, but I want to."

She felt her heart break at the thought of how she would most probably destroy his life if she stayed.

"I... you need to know, I lied before. I wasn't in need of money when I was younger, I don't need to pay rent in the way I told you before, I'm not someone you should be together with."

If she warned him then maybe he would want to get out before she had fallen too far, at least that's what she hoped. Because if there was something she knew it was that she wouldn't survive him leaving if it had gone too far. _But it already has_ , a voice whispered in her head.

"Well," he started, putting his free hand on her waist to turn her towards him, "you can tell me all about it... in your own time."

"I haven't told anyone before. Well, except for those who were there that is," she said before biting her lower lip.

He carefully pulled her body a bit closer to his, and she drew strength from his touch, the hand which held her hand letting hers go in order to land on the other side of her waist. By automatic her arms landed on his shoulders, locking her hands behind his head. She grew stronger from his hugging hands, and she wondered why that was.

"I was sixteen when my parents died, they were on their way to a camping trip which I would join later on, anyway they got in an accident and... died immediately," Kate started, trembling with her words a bit. After taking a deep breath, and stealing a little more strength from his grip, she opened her mouth again. "I got into foster care and it didn't take long before a man and a woman came to adopt another child, they-uh... the second they laid eyes on me they were certain they wanted to take care of me."

Rick couldn't stop the cringe of disgust spreading across his face, could only imagine what she would say next due to the things he knew she had to do when working.

"I didn't suspect a thing, only wanted to get out of the foster care center, wanted to have my own room to be able to morn my dead parents, get away from everyone," her lower lip was starting to shake, and he wondered how much more she could tell before breaking apart. "They're the ones who... showed and told me what to do," she swallowed hard and he hugged her tighter, putting his forehead against hers.

"You don't have to tell me everything at once," he whispered, not really wanting to interrupt her but feeling like he needed to assure her that he didn't want to push her.

He watched her eyes close, seeming to feel comfortable with having him so near, to be able to feel him.

"Anyway, I have a couple of foster sisters, and one of them, Bianca, has been there since she was six. They shared the job with her as if it was a normality, poisoned her brain into thinking they only did what was right and what needed to be done. I tried to tell them no, in the beginning, but they used other methods on me since I was too old to be manipulated the way B was. That's why I can't leave, why I can't stay with you. I don't know what they would do to me, or you for that matter, if I told them I wanted out. And I can't leave her there, no matter how ok she thinks it is."

She didn't open her eyes once, made sure to constantly draw strength from his touch. To her surprise she didn't stumble over her words this time, but that didn't mean she was less uncomfortable about sharing her experiences. She just felt like she needed to tell him, if he knew then maybe he could make the hard decision for her. If he was to tell her he didn't want her anymore then she would be able to force herself to leave. Without much warning his forehead left hers and she fought the sudden tears that wanted to spill her eyes. _This is it._ But before she could think any further she felt his lips replace his forehead, his lips soft against her skin.

"I got you, I got you," his mouth whispered the mantra over and over, trailing across her forehead in a kissing matter.

How could he be so loving? How was he able to stay with her the way he did despite what she had just told him? Even though she told herself it shouldn't matter, that what _should_ matter was the warmth his whole being gave her, she couldn't stop thinking about it. Because, _how could he be interested in someone like her?_

"How could I not? You're the most beautiful and intellectual woman I've ever met, and you make me feel things I've never felt with anyone before," Rick answered her question, a question she hadn't realized she'd said out loud.

Her cheeks blushed, and his lips kissed down her face to land on her lips, sending tingles down her body as she kissed him back. The second their lips parted she sucked in her bottom lip to bite on it with a giddy feeling in her belly.

"How about us going to bed? It's been a pretty long day and I think you're as tired as me if not more," Rick said, a yawn quickly proving his point and she chuckled at his try at hiding it.

Before she knew it she was mirroring his movement and it was his turn to chuckle.

"Come on," he said, pecked her cheek before he bent out of her arms to be able to grab her hand and pull her towards his bedroom.

Kate followed without hesitation, her body willingly moving towards the room where she had eventually found herself falling for the guy she was supposed to be professional with.

"Do you want to borrow a shirt for pjs?" he asked, looking her into her eyes as she nodded with a small spark in them.

"Yeah, I'd love that," she said with a big smile on her lips, because _oh how badly she wanted to be wrapped in his scent the way she'd been that morning_.

Together they found a shirt she would be comfy in and both knowing full well there was no point in being modest, they _had_ literally seen each other naked plenty more than once, they changed in front of each other before they snuggled down under the covers. Kate made herself comfortable, laying her head on his chest and one of her arms around his torso, while Rick made sure to wrap his arms around her and held her close to him.

"Thank you for coming back," he whispered in her hair, kissing the top of her head.

"I have a feeling I will always come back," she mumbled back her honest thought.

"Good."

They cuddled closer to each other, none of them wanting to let go because none of them really knew how long they would have this time. Rick was unsure if Kate would truly stay this time, no matter how much he could feel she wanted to she had shown before she was more afraid of whatever these two people keeping her on the job could do to her, or her foster sister or him, than she was sure of staying. Kate was unsure because she couldn't understand how someone as great as Rick could seem to want her, she felt as though it would only be a question of time before he would get tired of her and send her away.

* * *

Kate awoke with him surrounding her, his scent in her lungs, the feel of his breath in her neck, even their _bodies_ were tangled! They were spooning so not really _that_ tangled but their legs were, and one of his arms was around her, that hand on her belly. The other hand was between them but with fingers in her hair. She wondered if he enjoyed her scent as much as she enjoyed his, since his nose was clearly in her hair by the way she could feel his breath in her neck. It kinda tickled too. Without much warning he squeezed her tighter to him before mumbling something into her hair. She couldn't help the giggle from escaping her mouth before she whispered 'what?' into the open. He mumbled something again, sounding like the same melody as last time but she still couldn't make out the word. She tried turning around but he wouldn't give her the space to do so, his arm pulling her back closer to his chest, and so she turned her head as far as she could instead.

"What are you saying?" she chuckled through every word.

That was when she finally heard what he said, and it wasn't _a_ word, it was word _s_.

"This is nice."

Her teeth sunk into her lip as the smile spread on her mouth. Because yes _, this was nice_. She hummed when she suddenly felt him kissing her head, and it wasn't just one kiss either. He peppered every inch he could reach with kisses and she started giggling when his lips started tickling her neck, nippling on her sensitive skin. She couldn't help but try get away from him, ducking her head in order to hide her neck from him, only he was too strong and the angle he held her in made it impossible for her to break free. His lips moved from her neck, _thank god_ , and nipped once on her ear before his arm eased around her. She was about to crawl out of bed when she heard him once again mumble something incoherent in her hair.

"What was that?" she asked, not understanding how he could think she could possibly hear when he just a minute ago had to repeat himself _three times_ before she caught what he was saying.

"Please stay five more minutes," he said louder and she felt her cheeks get warm with a blush.

She couldn't believe this sweet, sweet man. He was way to good to her and she wondered why. And _how_ could he make her blush without even doing anything worth of blushing for? His arms around her made her feel secure and loved, something she hadn't felt since she was still a kid and her parents had held her, not really the same but still, kinda the same way. The rumbling inside her mind was dragging her into crazy, but she didn't want to go back to the way things used to be anymore. She had gotten a taste of what a life with him could be like, cozy and loving, and there was not a single part of her that wanted it to go away. So what if she stayed? What would she do? She'd have to quit her job, which really wasn't a job she'd wanted in the first place. She'd have to try get Margaret and Tom to let her go without threats. But _how?!_ And could Rick really stand to be with her? Was she not too damaged? She hadn't gone to college... she hadn't really done anything but being the kind of escort Margaret and Tom had turned her in to be. Would Bianca be okay? Could she get her foster sister to quit with her? Or was she in to deep and too manipulated to even _want_ to quit? Her mind kept spinning around, question after question running around as if it was a race with no answers at the finish line. One thing she was sure of though. _She didn't want to leave_.

"Okay, I'll stay," she whispered out her promise, only moving to turn around and put her arm around his torso.

 _I'll stay as long as you want me to. Hopefully forever._


	8. Chapter Eight

"Rick, this is _not_ what I agreed to!" Kate said, feeling the panic rise in her body.

"Yes you did, I told you I needed to go out and I asked if you could accompany me. You said yes," he reasoned, but she could see a small shame in his eyes.

He had not told her the whole story, and she knew that he knew that. But it was too late now, they sat in a limousine on their way to a book party which Rick had to attend to. She _had_ given him a suspicious look when he'd handed her the beautiful red dress he apparently had ordered the day before when she had still been sleeping. It had been two days, _two days,_ since she had promised him to stay, and he'd already been able to make her feel as if they'd been together forever. He peppered her with so much love that she was afraid to loose it, it was like he tried to prove to her that no matter what, he'd be with her. As if he was telling her, very loudly, that he wouldn't survive if she ran away again.

"I don't know if I can do this," she whispered with a scared look all over her face.

She didn't know what was to come, had never been to this kind of party before.

"Sure you can, and we only have to be here a couple of hours, it's not even a party for me, but my publicist said I had to attend," by the look on his face she suddenly got the feeling he didn't want to be there either.

Silently she let her hand touch his, she had put a small space between them the second the driver had mentioned the party they were going to, but now she didn't like that space anymore. His hand turned and immediately let their palms kiss as he intertwined their fingers. She took a few deep breaths, trying to wrap her head around the fact that she should _not_ run the first thing she did when she walked out of the car.

"Don't worry, I got you. We'll do this together no matter what," Rick promised and when she looked at him she could see he was aware of the fear that had crept into her body.

"I know," she whispered and leaned her body closer to his.

He seemed delighted by the sudden touch, a glimpse of it in his blue eyes, and he leaned in to peck her lips. The clearing of a throat had them both turn their eyes forward, the driver had rolled down the black window in order to get their attention.

"We're here Mr. Castle, miss," he nodded to the both of them in a polite matter.

"Thank you Martin," Rick told him and turned to Kate, "you ready?"

"No, but the quicker we get this over with the quicker we can go home, right?" she asked and he pecked her lips again.

He restrained the smile that wanted to spread on his lips. _She said home_. The door to the limousine suddenly opened and Rick went out first, reaching out his hand towards her the second he was out. She took his hand and let him help her out of the car, flinching at the instant flashes surrounding them. It took her a second to hear the clicks and see it was cameras setting off.

"Richard Castle! Over here! Who's your date tonight?!"

Kate felt her eyes widen. She'd not expected him to be _this_ famous! Rick's arm went around her waist, his head in her hair in a disguise of a kiss.

"Don't be scared, I got you," he whispered.

She tried to school her features, tried not to look as terrified as she felt, his arm squeezed around her waist and she drew strength from his touch. He led her over the red carpet towards the entrance, avoiding all kinds of questions the paparazzi seemed to throw at them. The second they got inside everything calmed down a bit, there were a few more people taking pictures but they seemed more... civil. She wondered if that was because they were inside, that they had passes to get inside and that calmed them from harassing as much as the people outside had.

"Heey, look who decided to join us tonight! Rick Castle, how are you?" a man walked up to them with a big smile and his hand out to shake Rick's.

"James Patterson," Rick greeted while shaking hands, "I'm great what about you?"

"Absolutely marvelous, and who's this beauty?" the man turned to Kate, holding out his hand to her.

"Uhm," Kate was speechless but reached out to accept his hand.

"This is Kate, my girlfriend," Rick introduced her and the man looked at her with wide eyes.

"You're certain you wanna be with this clown?" he said in a mocking yet friendly tone.

Rick chuckled at that and shook his head.

"Don't you dare try to steal her," he said in a joking matter.

He pulled Kate closer to him and kissed her cheek. She was sure her blush was evident, couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. The two writers continued to talk for a few more minutes before they parted and Rick led her away to mingle with others. She felt a constant warmth on her cheeks from all the nice words people were exchanging with them. There was a need for her to draw strength from him every now and then. About an hour after they'd gone around and talked to people Rick seemed to know on a professional level, he took her aside to be able to check on her. He didn't want all this to scare her, but he also needed her to know this was also a part of his life. When he'd asked her to follow him out on a night out he withheld information on purpose, not stating where or what they were going to. Somehow he'd known she wouldn't agree to it then, and he needed her to follow him because he was afraid that if he let her be alone in his loft she would leave. She'd voiced some of her worries the day before, how she would be able to get a life other than the one she had, and he had a feeling it wasn't only about being strong enough to get out of it. She was afraid of who she'd be without it, and he thought he'd seen her feeling embarrassed of what her parents would've thought of her not getting out sooner.

"I'm okay, overwhelmed but okay," Kate answered as he searched her eyes to see if she was indeed telling the truth.

"I'm sorry for not telling you," he said, his shame on full display.

She took a deep breath, "It's okay, this is a part of your life, and if I'm going to be a part of it then I should know about this part too."

He grinned at that, because that's what he'd thought about too. He was just praying it wasn't a part that would leave her running. Kate mirrored his smile and he couldn't refrain from cupping her one cheek to be able to kiss her lips. The kiss didn't last long, but it was definitely long enough to have have them both loosing their breaths, and as they parted their foreheads rested together.

"You should be aware that you don't ever have to go to another book party if you don't want to though," he said with a low and gentle voice as he looked into her hazel green eyes.

 _Those beautiful eyes._ He had a feeling he could drown in them for hours if she would let him.

"I don't mind, as long as you promise not to leave my side," she bit her lip and he agreed, promising immediately.

Kate leaned up and pecked his lips once more before they went back to the party with glowing smiles.

* * *

Kate was surprised she actually started to enjoy herself, if she were to be honest she was actually having the time of her life. She had never been to anything like it, of course she'd been scared at first, but after Rick had made sure multiple times she was okay and when she was actually starting to feel like she belonged there it was so much fun! They had been seated by a table with another two couples and they had gotten along so well that Kate wondered what the hell she'd been so scared of. Turned out Rick knew them from before but that didn't stop them from immediately including Kate in their small group.

"Kate are you sure you can put up with his foolishness?" Lanie, one of the women around their table, asked with a chuckle as Rick was currently throwing up a drape in the air to catch it in his mouth.

Kate gave him an unsure look when he let go of a small winning sound and punching in the air, having caught the grape.

"I'm starting to regret it," she said and as Lanie started laughing Rick let go of a small 'what?', to which Kate answered, "Nothing, babe."

The rest of the table laughed while Rick was just simply grinning, and Kate couldn't help but lean forward to peck his lips, getting a few awe's from their company.

"You two are adorable, I'm glad you finally found someone," Kevin, another one of their table-friends, said and the others agreed.

Kate felt her cheeks blush, but her smile only widened. All of a sudden Rick had widened his eyes with lips forming an 'o' as he bounced up from his seat only to surprise Kate by grabbing her hand to pull her with him as he walked towards the open floor.

"What are you..."

"Dance with me," he said as he turned to her and pulled her closer to his body.

That's when she realized someone had started the music, _that's why he'd pulled her up so sudden!_ She couldn't help but chuckle at his excitement when she took his hand in one of hers as the other landed on his shoulder. His hand, that wasn't holding hers, carefully took its place on her hip and they started swaying their bodies to the music. Kate was relieved to see more couples joining them on the dance floor, not really wanting to be on the spotlight. Well, _more_ than she already had that is. Rick was much better at dancing than she thought he would be and so she let go of a laughing yelp when he dipped her down.

"Don't worry, I got you," he smirked and she hit him lightly on his chest.

When he pulled her up again he pulled her so close she could feel her insides tingle, his lips just barely touching hers. Letting her decide what to do and the decision for her was easy. She pushed up to claim his lips with hers, nipping his lower lip into her mouth to suck it lightly. They both woke up from their haze when there was a quiet moan roaring from his throat. They both started chuckling at their own stupidity for doing something so reckless as beginning something they shouldn't have in public, and let their lips touch quick once before pulling away from each other. Or, they didn't exactly pull away _completely_ from each other, they went back to their dancing. Kate felt like a whole other person, she felt as though everything was possible, as if she wouldn't have to worry about anything at all. It was like she was finally at peace.

"Nikki? Nikki Heat?" a man's voice had her insides freeze.

 _Oh no._


	9. Chapter Nine

_Sorry for not updating last weekend! Had too much to do and couldn't find time to publish... if you follow me on twitter or instagram you already know this though. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!_

* * *

Rick felt Kate's whole body stiffen at the words. Hell, _he_ stiffened. They both turned to the man standing too close to Rick's taste, especially considering the name he'd just uttered.

"It really is you!" the man said in a rushed but hushed voice, excitement evident in his eyes.

"I-uh-I think you've mistaken," Kate said with a shaky voice, definitely not convincing enough.

"Nuh-uh, I don't think so. You're the best one I've ever ordered," he said and looked at Rick, "hey man, don't you agree?" the man turned back to Kate with a smile on his lips. "When you're done with him you can come over to my place, doesn't matter the time," he winked and Kate felt sick to her stomach.

How could this happen to her? Here at all places? _Why did she agree to this?_ Rick was suddenly standing in a, _very_ , protective position in front of her. _Oh dear god_.

"How dare you talk to her like that? She's _not_ a piece of meat, she's a woman," Rick said in a low threatening voice and Kate started tugging on his arm, silently begging him to drop it.

The man just stared at him with surprised eyes.

"Wait, you're her _boyfriend?_! You do know what she does for a living right?" the man said in a too loud voice, raising curious eyes around them and Kate felt her eyes burn.

"Come on Rick," she barely even whispered, tugging at his arm again.

She didn't know what did it, the tugging or her broken whisper, but it felt like he woke up, suddenly looking around and seeing what she was seeing. People nearby them looking curiously at them, _journalists_ were looking at them. She could feel him calm down, or at least gather himself.

"Don't you ever call her again ok?" Rick said, still with a low threatening voice but final, and pulled back with an arm around Kate's waist.

She was thankful for his arm, it gave her strength enough not to fall to the ground. When she glanced up at him she saw he wore a fake smile, probably trying to keep up an act she wasn't sure she would be able to pull off. Before she knew it they were back at their table, and Rick was talking to the others while Kate couldn't concentrate enough to actually _be there_. She kept thinking about that man, the fact that he'd recognized her, the fact that there were more men, and some women, out there who'd know exactly who she was. Or, well, not really who _she_ was, but who _Nikki Heat_ was.

"Kate? Sweetie? Are you alright?"

Kate looked up at the kind woman she'd come to know as Lanie, who was sitting right beside her to her left. She hadn't exactly uttered the words loud enough to interrupt the other's conversation but loud enough for Kate to understand she really wanted to know how Kate felt. Kate shook her head to gather her thoughts, to try and put on a mask.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just lost in thought," she shrugged off but she could see the hesitation in her brown eyes.

"You sure?" Lanie asked and Kate nodded.

Kate felt a hand on hers under the table and looked at her right to see it was Rick who gently hugged it, probably having heard her excuse to the other woman.

"Maybe we should head home, it's been a fun and exhausting night," he said to their company and Kate immediately agreed.

They all exchanged how great it had been to meet up, Kate being thankful for them making her night more bearable, and they said good night. Rick was holding her hand while they left their table and walked towards the exit. He kept glancing at her but wasn't quite able to read her. She still seemed tense, scared, and he wondered how he could help her. There was a fear inside of him that she wouldn't want this anymore, that she'd flee the first chance she'd get. He wondered if she'd wait until he fell asleep again, if he'd fall asleep with her body next to his but wake up the next morning feeling cold and alone. When they reached the exit a woman walked up to them and Rick didn't see the journalist card around her neck until she had already stopped them from walking out the door.

"So, who is your lovely date tonight Mr. Castle?" she asked, holding out her phone to record their conversation.

"My girlfriend," Rick said before catching Kate's eyes and let go of her hand to put his arm around her waist, pulling her with him as he started going around the journalist.

"And what was that man talking about earlier?" the journalist asked boldly.

Rick gave the woman an annoyed look before he uttered, "No comment," and led Kate out of the party before they could get any more questions. To Rick's surprise, and irritation, there were still a whole bunch of paparazzi outside, taking way too many pictures for his liking as they walked to their awaiting car. It wasn't until they were seated and safe in their own bubble that any of them started talking, and it was him breaking the silence.

"Are you okay?"

Kate snuggled closer to him at that, his arm landing around her body as she buried her head in his chest. At first he didn't think she would answer, but after a minute of silence she did.

"No."

He let go of a sigh of relief, but his body was still tense with worry. It wasn't a good sign, that she wasn't okay, but the fact that she was honest was progress enough for him. She was starting to show herself, starting to let him in deeper than she already had. She was not lying to him as he thought she would.

"I don't know what to do," Kate uttered, and his arm tightened around her. "I've thought about staying, for good, but I don't know how I'm supposed to survive."

Rick wrinkled his forehead and tried to get a glance at her face. Her eyes were set straight ahead of them, as if she was lost in her own mind.

"What do you mean?" he asked, wanting to help her as much as he could.

She sighed, her eyes closing in what he assumed was frustration.

"I can't get a job, I never went to college, and I can't let you pay for everything. I can't leave Bianca and the others with... _them_. But I don't think I'm capable of even _trying_ to get them thrown to jail."

"What if you let me help you to start? I can help you study, help you get a job," he suggested and Kate felt her heart swell at his kindness, the love he continued to show her.

"I can't let you do that Rick, I can't have you pay for everything. _Even_ if it's only for a while," she sounded like she'd given up, as if everything was against her and she was just about to give up.

The car came to a stop and so Rick decided to think about her words for a while. They walked up to his loft, the first thing they did was get rid of their shoes and walk into their bedroom in order to get rid of their fancy clothes. He helped her pull down the zipper in her dress, and as he did he couldn't help but lay kisses on the back of her neck and her shoulders. She let go of satisfied sighs and Rick could feel the tension somewhat leave her body as his lips touched her skin. They continued undressing in silence, Rick handed Kate a shirt she could sleep in while he himself put on some pj pants, and they cuddled close to each other in bed. They held each other, both fearing what might await them tomorrow. Finally have had some time to think about her words Rick voiced a question he'd thought of asking a few times before.

"What did little Kate want to be when she grew up?"

He felt her turn in order to look up at him and so he looked down to meet her confused gaze.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean you said your parents passed when you were sixteen, right?" she nodded, "then, what did you want to work with before that? You must've had a dream of what you wanted to be, right?"

Rick was unsure but hoped this would help, if they could figure out a job she wanted to work towards then he had a solution as to what she could do in the meantime she studied for it. However, he was unsure if she had in fact had a dream because he knew not all kids do. Some have absolutely no clue as to what they want to be, or they want to be so much that they can't figure out which one to choose first. It took a while for her answer to come, as if she really had to dig in the back of her head to remember what life had been like for her as a kid before all hell broke loose.

"Uhm, yeah, I wanted to be like my parents, lawyers," she admitted carefully.

"A lawyer? Hmm, that's a tough one, but I'm sure you could easily manage that," he thought about it.

Lawyer. He could see that.

"But I... I don't think I'd pull that off," she said quickly, as if she didn't want him to start planning something.

"Why not?" he questioned, wanting to hear her thoughts.

"It's not me, not anymore anyway, I'm too damaged," she voiced the truth she believed in.

"No, you're not!" he immediately argued.

He refused to believe that. She was _not_ 'too damaged', no matter how much she believed that it was not true. She was strong, he could see that, could _feel_ that, she just needed a little push into believing in herself again.

"But if you don't want that anymore, then maybe there's something else?" he gave in, because even if she was fully capable of being a lawyer according to him there was no way he'd force her into it if it wasn't what she wanted anymore.

"There's no use Rick, I can't anyway, what's the point of finding a work when I ca..."

" _You can_ , I know you can, and if you're not willing to let me pay for everything in the meantime of you getting the education you need to get the job you want then you can be my assistant," he said and her eyes widened.

"Assistant? You don't have the use for an assistant," she said and he chuckled.

"Sure I do, you can serve me coffee, help me edit my chapters, read the chapters and be my pair of extra eyes to find mistakes," he counted, "oh! And you can be my inspiration for some more intimate scenes," he added wiggling his eyebrows, earning a laugh and a blush from the woman in his arms.

"Yeah right," she rolled her eyes and he pushed her down in the mattress beside him in order to hover over her with a big smile on his lips.

"I'm serious! I'd love to help you and if you being my assistant can help then I'm more than willing," he exclaimed.

Kate could see the sincerity in his eyes, his honesty. It only made her love him more.

"Fine, I'll be your assistant, but if I read anything that even resembles the way you and I have sex I will buy a gun and shoot you," she warned with narrowed eyes, only being able to keep up the expression a second before her lips burst up in a smile.

"Deal," he said and sealed it with a kiss to her lips.

It was a kiss that made her forget everything bad that had happened during the evening. All she could think of was the way his body was slowly pushing into hers, his lips moving against hers as if there was no place they'd rather be. After a few minutes of pure making out Rick's lips slowed down, gently moving his lips in small kisses around her face, making her giggle. He then laid one last kiss on her lips before he pulled away in order to lay back down beside her, but making sure to hug her close to his side.

"We can do this right?" she asked, a small fear present in her voice.

"Yes, as long as we are together I have a feeling we can do anything," he promised, kissing the top of her head.

Together, yeah, _she liked that word_.

* * *

"Are you okay B?" Kate asked into the phone as soon as she answered.

Kate had enjoyed a day on the couch in Rick's office, listening to his typing on his laptop while she was looking at colleges on the iPad he'd handed to her. But the second her phone had buzzed and shown the face of her foster sister, there had been a knot in her belly, what if something had happened? What if they had found out?

"Everything's fine Kate, they don't suspect a thing," Bianca replied with pride in her voice, and Kate let go of a relieved sigh. " _But_ , we need to tell them, you need to let them know you wanna quit."

Kate became quiet, she wasn't sure how she was supposed to do this, hadn't yet figured it all out. She wasn't sure if she could face them just yet.

"It's been a _week_ , I can't lie to them much longer."

She felt Rick's gaze on her and when she looked at him he gave her a small, careful smile before he turned his gaze back to his laptop. It was adorable how he tried to give her privacy even though he probably wanted nothing more than to take care of her and help her with this.

"I know, but I don't know how to do this. What's happened since I left? What have you been telling them?"

"I told them you needed some time to heal so that you would be able to see the clients without them asking what happened to you. Oh! And guess what?!" she said with an excitement in her voice.

"What?" Kate questioned, once again feeling Rick's eyes land on her.

"We've gotten a new sister!" she half-screamed and Kate felt her heart stop and her jaw drop.


	10. Chapter Ten

" _What!?_ " Kate screamed into the phone. "You can't be serious!"

"Yes! Her name is Scarlet and she reminds me of you! She's fifteen though, so a year younger and..."

Kate stopped listening, she was too busy trying to avoid her hyperventilating from sounding through the phone, her tears on the verge of breaking through. _This can't be happening_. Bianca kept on talking, Kate could just slightly make out the words of 'green eyes' and 'redhead' before she started gasping for air.

"Kate? Kate! Breathe! Come on honey, breathe," she suddenly felt his arms on her shoulders and when her eyes started focusing again she was looking right into his blue eyes.

He was breathing calmly, exaggerating each breath for her to follow. She tried her best, tried breathing with him, but the panic inside of her didn't subside, refused to disappear. Her hands were shaking and she realized he must've taken the phone from her because it was laying on the couch beside her.

"What's going on? Is Kate okay?" she vaguely heard Bianca ask from the speaker of the phone.

"I think she's having a panic attack, what did you say to her?" Rick asked, searching in her eyes for answers behind what was going on, why there were tears streaming down her cheeks. Why she was having trouble breathing.

"I just told her about our new sister..." Kate saw Rick's eyes widen with sudden understanding.

"Okay, I got it, I'm gonna try calm her down, she'll call or text you later," he stated before clicking on the phone to end the call. "Kate, it's gonna be okay, we will help her. We can put a stop to this," he said calmly, never once showing any sign of the stress she was feeling.

He was hugging her shoulders with his hands, keeping her gaze with steady eyes, breathing in a slow, soothing rhythm. Kate leaned down, placing her head in the crook of his neck, and took a deep breath to fill her nostrils with his scent. His arms gently fell around her in a comfortable hug, though it did put him in a weird position so it didn't take long before he excused himself and push her away for a second only to sit down beside her in the couch and pull her into his lap. The exact moment she was safely in his arms she found herself taking slower breaths, her heart started to calm down from the panic and she felt some sort of peace cripple down her veins.

"I got you," he whispered, kissing her head. "We'll solve this."

Swallowing hard she whispered with a broken voice, "How?"

He hummed for a few seconds, probably thinking of a way to handle this, a way to fix it all.

"Well, we could get proof of what they do to her and did to you, we show and tell the police everything," he told her and she only nodded.

He cuddled her closer, kissed her head again, and they sat like that for only god knows how long. He wouldn't relax his body until he felt hers doing so, until she was breathing normally, calmed down in his arms. He was scared of her reaction, _how bad had they treated her in the beginning?_ Had she meant literally when she said they _showed_ her what to do when they introduced her to their kind of escort services. Rick felt disgusted by himself for not knowing what he had contributed to when he first hired her, _how could he have added to her pain?!_ Of course he didn't mean any harm about it but... had he only thought further than his nose then maybe he wouldn't have been so selfish. He never even thought of how she would feel about it, especially not when she had been so willing, now he understood that was a learned behavior due to whatever her foster parents had made her do as a teenager. Then again he did absolutely _not_ regret meeting her. There was nothing more he wanted than to spend the rest of his life with her, even though he had a feeling it was too soon to have those thoughts he couldn't deny them. It was just something about her that pulled him to her, as if they were the ends of two magnets and the pull was too strong for him to refuse. He had never felt that with anyone else, and he somehow knew that he would never feel that with anyone else.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled and Kate wriggled a little in his arms to be able to look up at him.

"For what?" she asked in a weak voice, despite having stopped crying a long time ago there was still the hoarse aftermath in the sound of her voice.

"For helping those a... _them_ to keep their business. If I hadn't fallen for my stupid buddies dare then at least they wouldn't have gotten my money to continue hurting you."

His eyes were so sad and filled with guilt Kate had no idea of what to do, she didn't like that glimpse at all. She loved it when his blue eyes were filled with happiness and love and joy, not this. This hurt her more than she thought was possible.

"You didn't know," she concluded, not wanting him to have guilt over it. "Besides, if you hadn't gotten into my life I would've never considered leaving. I was too scared to even think about it." She was quiet for only two more seconds before she added, "I'm happy you called for me, and continued to call me. Without you I wouldn't think I was worthy of love."

She hadn't really meant to let him know, not really meant for him to know the darkest of thoughts she'd had and still had sometimes. When she'd first gotten to Tom and Margaret she'd never been more grateful in her whole life to get away from the foster center, grateful she'd gotten her own room and could finally be left alone, but it hadn't taken long before she started regret everything. The second they had started telling her what they expected of her she'd wanted out of there, because obviously she was old enough to understand _exactly_ what they were talking about. She hadn't had a boyfriend or anything like that but she'd _had_ sexual education in school and knew about prostitution. It didn't matter how they tried to uptalk it by calling it an 'escort service', she understood perfectly fine what they wanted her to sell.

"You deserve all the love in the world."

His statement interrupted her thoughts and she gazed at him. How had she been so lucky to be the one he called to?

"I love you," she whispered, looking him into the ocean in his eyes.

The first split second he got a widened, surprised, expression but it quickly faded into a wide smile and _there were that happiness and love and joy that she fell in love with months ago_.

"I love you too Kate, more than you'll ever understand," he confessed with a confident voice.

The corner of her lips turned up in a mirroring smile before she leaned in to press her lips to his in a smooth kiss. The kiss was gentle and, _oh_ , so filled with love she thought she'd melt away if they kept it up. They broke apart before it could turn into anything more, afraid they would loose themselves if they continued and they still had a reservation at a restaurant to get to. Kate had been hesitant when he suggested it, scared someone else might recognize her and confront her as to her absence, but he could be _very_ persuasive when he wanted to.

"You find any college that sounds interesting?" Rick asked and pulled her back to the now.

"Uhm, maybe," she turned a little in his lap in order to reach for the iPad. "I mean, I don't think I'll ever get in but, uhm, New York University have these programs..." her voice died out, not really sure what she's thinking about.

"It might be a lot of work yes, but I think that if you really want it you can do anything," he said and they looked down at the screen together.

* * *

The night went splendid, no one coming up to them claiming they knew who Kate was, and it made her believe in herself again. She wasn't ' _Nikki Heat_ ' anymore, she was Kate Beckett again. She was feeling as though she was turning back into her old self, the one she had been before her parents died. It was amazing how Rick could make her feel as if everything was more than great. She couldn't help but find it adorable how he made sure to hold her hand when they walked back towards his building. They had together decided the night air would be a perfect end on another one of their perfect dates. Their fingers intertwined as they walked into the park that right now laid between them and their goal. Kate glanced at Rick who looked up at the stars and the moon that could be spotted past the light from the city.

"You know, someday soon I need to take you to the Hamptons. In a cloud-free night like tonight you can see endless of stars there, and I bet you will look more than beautiful in the moonlight," Rick stated, imagining them walking down the beach during a summer night.

Kate bit her lower lip in order to try an contain the smile that had kept growing the whole night and was starting to hurt her cheeks a lot more than she was used to.

"Mm, the moonlight is so beautiful when the light of the city isn't there to disturb it," she agreed, remembering both cold and warm nights she'd spent outside of the city she was born and raised in.

"You ever traveled somewhere special?"

Rick couldn't help but the curiosity that flared inside of him. Kate had told him little of her childhood, almost none, but she were slowly letting him know more and more and Rick was enchanted by her every small story. As he looked down at her he could swear her cheeks turned another shade of red while her eyes were set on the moon that could be seen in the sky.

"We had a cabin in the woods, there was a lake right behind it where we would swim during summer," she told him, and he could see the dream in her eyes. "You should've seen it, Rick. We went there every summer when I had holidays from school, I'd explore the woods every year to make sure everything looked the same and weren't damaged. My mom and dad would call me a cute little troll taking care of the forest as if I was home at last."

She chuckled at the memory and so did he, loving to see how much she enjoyed the memory she was seeing in her mind. She looked absolutely beautiful and so happy that he wanted to save this scenery in his own memories forever.

"Maybe we could visit it sometime, you and me," he suggested and her smile faded a bit.

 _Damn it, what did he say wrong?_

"I don't even know what happened to it."

Her voice was not stronger than a whisper, and he cursed himself for even opening his mouth. Why did he have to destroy the happiness that had shone in her eyes just a second earlier?

"I'm sorry," he apologized quickly, but she shook her head and met his gaze with her eyes.

"Don't be. If I knew I would've loved to take you there."

They smiled at each other, and Kate stepped on her toes in order to kiss his lips for how thoughtful he was and for how much she loved him. They continued their walk home after the kiss, both enjoying the small touches they shared. His and her fingers gently moving up and down the insides of their arms. They only stopped touching when he unlocked the door to his loft, and once they were inside Kate couldn't help but put her arms around his neck in order to kiss him again. The kiss was soft, and it surprised him how far they'd gotten. Rick sometimes thought back to how they met, how he'd been determined to not loose a bet and called her. He remembered being so scared before their meeting, and remembered the small shock when he'd met her only to realize she was a few years younger than him. He strictly remembered all the times he had been so close to kissing her lips, _oh how much he'd wanted to kiss those lips from the start_ , but how she'd pushed him away every time. He remembered all the times she had scolded him, told him not to do that again or she'd have to end their arrangements. _But now they were standing in his hallway, sharing the softest of kisses!_ They only broke apart for enough time to catch their breath before their lips were fused together again, this time a little faster, a little more desperate. His tongue asked for her permission and was immediately welcomed by the stroke of hers against his. A familiar moan vibrated from her mouth into his and it didn't take long before his hands slipped inside the blouse she had put on.

Kate shivered at his touch, her skin catching flames as his fingers ran smoothly up her spine. _God she loved the feeling he was able to give her_. Her fingers fiddled with the small hair he had in his neck, and she felt him groan when she pushed her chest into his, closing the smallest of gap there had been. His hands moved quickly down to the back of her thighs and squeezed gently, so she jumped at the same time as he lifted her up into his arms. When she'd wrapped her legs around him he carried her backwards to their bedroom. He sat her down on the edge of the bed and as his hands left the back of her thighs they grabbed the hem of her shirt in order to pull it off. Once it was off their lips reattached and he softly pushed her down into the mattress. Suddenly his lips left hers and she was about to follow him but his hand landed on her shoulder to keep her down. Before she knew it he was stripping her pants off and laid kisses up her legs, making her a moaning mess the way only he could. When he reached her center she let go of a loud gasp, his hands landed on her hips in order to keep her still.

"Oh god, Rick," she moaned his name as he added his fingers, pushing them into her and slowly bringing her to her first orgasm of that night.

She fell apart under him and Rick couldn't help but smirk as he licked his lips, loving the taste of her on his tongue. He moved up, kissing her belly and licking her belly button before he moved further. His fingers were smoothly moving up and down her sides, making her highlighted skin shiver at his arousing touch. Removing her bra he started sucking on one of her breasts, nipping at her nipple which immediately sent shockwaves down her body.

"You have too many clothes on," she mumbled and he chuckled against her breast.

"Do I?" he asked and left her nipple to look up at her.

She nodded with blushing cheeks, it didn't matter how many times he did this to her, she was always blushing at how easy he could turn her into mush. Kate got to work on his shirt, unbuttoning it to be able to push it down his arms. He was still chuckling when she begun pulling at his belt, but she could feel the evidence of how turned on he was. She even palmed him through his jeans in order to stop his chuckling, which immediately resulted in a moan leaving past his lips. He pulled away in order to raise into a standing position, taking off his pants before returning to her waiting body. Their lips joined again, tongues battling for dominance as he placed himself at her entrance.

"Ah, yes," she moaned when he pushed into her.

He moved in and out, slowly stroking her walls to prolong every second of their pleasure. Kate felt her tongue loose in their battle as her body started squirming in arousal, her body meeting his thrusts in a beautiful rhythm. The sounds coming out of her mouth had him going faster and harder until they both screamed out, reaching their highs together. Rick let his body stay on top of hers for a little while, his head in her neck and her mouth right next to his ear for him to hear every breath she breathed out. He could hear the smile her lips formed from the sighs she was panting out.

"I love you," she whispered and he chuckled.

He kissed the top of her head before pulling out of her in order to pull her with him as he laid down on his back.

"I love you you too Kate Beckett," he said into her head, kissing in her hair again.

They'd figure it all out. They could overcome this. She knew they would, she could feel it.


	11. Chapter Eleven

_Thank you all for the reviews and comments you keep shooting my way! Hope you'll enjoy this chapter! xx_

* * *

"We got them."

Kate felt his arms come around her in a supportive hug. It had taken them two weeks, but the sight before her was the most satisfying scene she'd experienced with those two.

"We got them," she repeated his words in a whisper as she let his arms pull her into his chest.

After that beautiful date night of theirs they had started planning for real on how to do things, since there had come a sudden sense of needing to do something now in order to save the poor girl who was now being taken care of by a medic. Kate was thankful for the girl's apparent strength, having resisted Margaret and Tom's 'easy' way into the escort life. She had, just like Kate, refused to do what they asked, which had resulted in the same treatment Kate had gotten. At least the police had caught them redhanded before they could break her spirit. Rick had contacted a few cops he knew and trusted, they had each agreed on meeting with Kate to listen to her story. Rick and Kate had med the cops individually in order to make it as comfortable as possible for Kate, especially since she was very insecure about telling someone other than Rick everything that had happened to her since she was sixteen. Every cop that talked to them agreed to help, and most of them wanted to go immediately, but Rick managed to convince them to wait until they had talked to everyone on Rick's list. Both Kate and Rick knew that unless they caught them redhanded or found evidence there wouldn't be anything holding the two monsters away from being freed before they could get thrown to jail. So, the first week after that date night they had spent talking to cops. The second they had gathered evidence both by taking pictures and, in despite of Rick's protests, Kate had gone in while recording everything they said on her phone.

"I can't believe we actually did it," she whispered and he hugged her tighter.

"We did. And they're never bothering you again," he mumbled against her ear and kissed her temple.

Once Margaret and Tom had been led into separate police cars Kate suddenly remembered something she couldn't just leave in that house. She waited until the two police cars had driven away before she bent his arms away from her, earning a curious look before she took his hand in hers and dragged him towards the house that had been her nightmare for the last couple of years. They had been standing quite a far away in order to not be seen by the foster parents, Kate not wanting them to know it was her who was behind it all. At least not yet, she knew she'd might have to stand up to witness in court unless the cops or court lady would find it necessary.

"Where are we going?" he asked and she bit her lip.

"I need to get something."

Kate was grateful for the cops knowing exactly who they were, since that meant she could walk past without them stopping her to ask her what she was doing. She felt hesitant as to show Rick her room but something inside her told her she had nothing to be scared of anymore. He had been by her side no matter what she had told him, no matter what had happened to her or what she sometimes had been forced to do. Kate led him up the stairs towards what had been her room, and only let go of his hand by the door to be able to walk towards what had been her bed and crouch down beside it.

"There's one thing in this place that's not horrible," she told him as she pulled out the box from under the bed.

She let go of a sigh of relief for it still being there. A couple days earlier she had been afraid that perhaps Margaret or Tom had found it and gotten rid of it, but thankfully they hadn't.

"What's that?" Rick asked with the sooth and curious voice.

Kate turned to him with the box in her hands, a small smile on her lips.

"This is my treasure, I mean," she rolled her eyes at her childish description, "it's a box with pictures of my parents, and a few other things that I managed to kept through the years."

Rick walked up to her and carefully pointed at the lid with question in his eyes. Kate only smile and nodded. He opened the lid and looked down at the first picture she had laying there, that beautiful picture of her parents looking into each other's eyes with love shooting at each other. As careful as he could he picked up the photo and looked at her parents, Jim and Johanna Beckett. She had told her quite a lot about them, things she remembered when he'd asked her to describe her life before the accident, but now he finally had faces with the names. He looked up at her, could see the resemblances between the people in the photo and the woman in front of him.

"I knew that was the way you two were looking at each other!"

Rick jumped at the sound and heard Kate gasp as her eyes turned to the door.

"Bianca!" Kate exclaimed and the blonde in the door just smirked with a 'what?' and a shrug.

Rick looked between the two women and something clicked in his mind, so this was the woman who had pushed Kate back to him.

"Hi, I'm Bianca," the blonde said walking up to them with her hand reaching out.

"Rick," he answered, still a bit shocked, as he shook her hand.

"So, you're the one who got Kate all infatuated?" she said and Kate felt her cheeks flare up.

"Bianca!" she scolded, but her sister simply winked at her with a smile.

"Thank you, the light in her eyes had disappeared," Bianca said and Kate thought she would die from embarrassment.

Rick's eyes landed on her again and she wished she could just disappear, looking down she knew he could see the blush on her cheeks.

"Well, thank you for answering the phone and pushing her in my way," Rick said and put back the photo in the box Kate was still holding,.

One of his hands cupped her cheek in order to pull her up to surprise her with a gentle kiss. She immediately kissed him back, feeling the usual tingles run down her veins. It wasn't until Bianca let go of a squeal that Kate pulled away, remembering they had an audience, and cleared her throat.

"How are you holding up B?" she asked and her sister shrugged again with a neutral expression.

"I'm fine, I know you think I was... a goner? But I knew you were right, knew they wouldn't let you out. That's why I pushed you out, I knew that if you were to get out of here you would have to get help from the outside," Bianca told them with a small smile.

Kate felt a warmth spread inside her and, without even speaking or any eye contact with him, Rick had taken the box from her so that she could go hug her sister. They hugged for a couple of minutes before they pulled away and Kate couldn't stop but wonder what would happen to her sister.

"What are you gonna do now?"

Bianca just smiled, "First of all they gave me access to everything, remember? So I'm gonna help the police by giving them everything, clients, economics, everything. And then... well, we'll just have to wait and see." She shrugged her shoulders and Kate couldn't help but feel responsible for being the one to push her sister out of a job, even if it wasn't really an ideal job it still had been a job. "Stop worrying Kate, I'll be fine, and besides, don't think you can get rid of me that easy, I'll keep my eyes on you," she winked and Kate couldn't help but laugh at that and put her arms around her sister again.

* * *

"Oh my god, I'm keeping this!" Rick exclaimed and Kate looked over at him to see what he found.

She laughed at the picture he was holding up with a big grin plastered on his face. It was a picture of herself, maybe five years old, with her hole body covered in paint. She was almost completely naked except for the panties she had on and she actually remembered that moment as clear as it was yesterday.

"As long as you don't show it to anyone," Kate laughed and Rick felt his belly flutter at the happiness he could see in her eyes.

They had gotten home about two hours earlier, and they had brought Thai-food as a celebration to what they had accomplished. Kate's demons were gone, or at least the physical ones, there were still a few in her mind she needed to work out.

"Do you remember why?" Rick asked with a chuckle, "I mean, did you find paint in the garage or something?"

She laughed at the suggestion, feeling so free.

"No!" she exclaimed, acting offended. "It was actually my mom's idea."

He gave her a look of intrigue, fascinated to hear what this story had in store for him. She bit her lower lip before she opened her mouth to explain.

"My mom had this crazy idea, she loved painting and dancing and had seen I'd taken an interest in both," he couldn't help but smile big at the imaginary look she had as she thought back. "So she bought paint in bottles, a big roll of paper and made sure I was aware of the rules, 'no paint on the floor or on the walls, only the paper'," she did an imitation of what he assumed her mother had sounded like and he chuckled. "She rolled out the paper across our living room and used sticky tape to make sure it would stack to the floor, it was a really big space and so I remember thinking 'what floor should I worry about? There's no floor left'." Kate had to pause to laugh before she continued, "Once it was all settled, she stripped off a bit herself, wearing simple shorts and a sports bra, then she asked me to help her pour out some of the paint on the paper and once that was done she put on some music and we danced in the paint, covering the whole paper with the prints of our dancing."

Rick laughed, couldn't help but imagine Kate doing the same with her future kids.

"I so wish I could've seen that," he confessed and she shook her head.

"Dad was hella mad when he got home, but after both me and mom covered him in painted kisses and ruined his clothes with hugs, he couldn't stay mad anymore because we were 'too adorable'."

They stayed silent for a minute, simply taking in the memories of the past. She was finally free, felt as though a heavy stone had been lifted off her shoulders, and she could finally engulf in the memories of her past before everything had gone terribly wrong. Kate knew there would be a lot of work ahead of her, her and Rick having already discussed her inner demons and what to do about them. After a lot of buts and ifs Kate had agreed on trying to see a therapist, work everything out with a professional who'd worked with cases like these before. Rick had volunteered to stay with her in the waiting room, but when she suggested he could also come with her into the room he had immediately shut if off, saying she needed that time to be about her and only her without the distraction of him holding her back.

"What about this one?" Rick asked, holding up another photo of her and there it was.

Kate immediately reached for the picture and he let go of it the second her fingers gently wrapped around its edge. Kate's smile was one of those sad but gently and sincere ones he'd seen quite a lot in the last hour while going through her box.

"This is the cabin I was telling you about," she whispered, voice filled with emotion. "This photo was taken when I was thirteen, I had just had a really bad day and my parents could see right through me when I said I was fine. They told me to pack a bag, and I swear at first I thought they were to send me away, and then they took the rest of the week off from their works, called the school as well, said we had a family emergency. After that we went into the car and rode to our cabin, where they made sure I had the best week I could possibly have."

Rick saw the tear fall from her eye and gently caught it with his thumb before it could fall further than her cheek. That cabin seemed to mean a lot more to her than she'd let on, and in thought Rick decided he would make it his mission to finding it.

"Why am I crying, it's stupid," she tried to blink away her tears, wipe away those which escaped her eyes.

"It's not stupid," he said, taking one of her hands in his in order to hug it. "Human."

She smiled at him and she wondered how the hell she had stumbled across this man. This gentle man. She leaned forward in order to place her lips on his in a smooth kiss.

"Thank you, for everything."

He smiled and kissed her lips again before pulling her into a hug, his lips reaching her hair and whispering 'always'.

* * *

 _A/N:_

 _Hiiii, just want to make sure you all know that if you follow me on twitter and/or instagram I often update there when something happens, like when I'm not able to publish the next chapter as scheduled etc. and sometimes I also post sneak peeks of the upcoming chapter._

 _Anyway, have a nice day/evening! xxx_

 _Twitter: LololovaX_

 _Instagram: Lololova_


	12. Chapter Twelve

Kate looked at the dress her new friend held up.

"What about this one? This will look absolutely _stunning_ on you," Lanie gushed and Kate couldn't stop the roll of her eyes as she shook her head.

Kate had finally accepted Lanie's offer for a day of shopping, a day Lanie had been nagging on her about. Ever since that event Lanie had asked for a chance to take Kate out and just spend a day with her, get to know her more, but Kate hadn't exactly had the time nor the right energy for a girl's day. However she had immediately accepted the offer the second her former foster parents were arrested, or more accurately Rick had convinced her it could be good for her to have someone more than him to talk to. Plus he said he knew Lanie enough to know she would be an amazing friend to her.

"I'm not here to buy anything," Kate answered her and heard the brunette snort.

"Didn't Rick give you money to buy something?"

"Yes but I'm not gonna use them, it's his, not mine."

Kate was stubborn, said she didn't need or want anything despite Rick's objections. She had eventually agreed to bring the card he gave her but that didn't mean she would actually use it for other than lunch.

"Girl, you need to buy at least _one_ dress okay? Wear it on date night," Lanie said with a matter-of-fact voice. "Come on, let's try this on!"

Lanie grabbed onto Kate's arm and dragged her towards the fitting room. After seeing the way the dress hugged her body in just the right places Kate couldn't refrain herself from buying it anyway, not when her friend kept insisting she _should_ buy it and wear it the next time she and Rick went out on a date. All in all Kate had an amazing time, that was until someone called her out, as Rick Castle's new girlfriend _and_ Nikki Heat.

"Oh my god that _is_ her!" someone called out and Kate couldn't hide her reaction.

Her hole body froze mid-step and _how the hell had they known it was her?!_ Lanie noticed her friend's sudden stop and halted only a couple feet in front of her.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she met Kate's eyes.

Lanie didn't know, and god how Kate wanted to keep it that way. But at the same time she had a strange knot in her stomach telling her that if someone had connected her to both Rick Castle and Nikki Heat there would be nothing stopping them from telling the world. _But she just_ _gotten_ _rid of them!_

"Excuse me, is it true you're paid to be Rick Castle's girlfriend? Does he take advantage of you?" a woman asked out of nowhere and Kate could see Lanie's sudden shock before something changed in the latino american's eyes.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" she bursted out at the woman with red eyes.

The woman looked scared, and if Kate had been on the other side of those eyes she'd been scared too because _damn_ did Lanie look like she could murder someone right about now. Kate couldn't stop thinking about what she would do if she found out who she was, who she'd been.

"Isn't this you?" the woman asked with a small voice holding up a paper towards them and Kate felt her heart stop.

On the paper was a big picture with her laughing at an event with Rick's arm around her waist and lips in her hair, the text on the page was big, screaming at her. _'Rick Castle's new flame is all other than innocent, you might know her as either Kate Beckett or NIKKI HEAT'._ Lanie gasped at the paper and Kate closed her eyes, not wanting to see the friend she'd just gotten leave her again. Her feet started moving, backwards, she didn't want to witness this, didn't want more people to find out, to see her. She thought she could leave this all behind, she _thought_ this was over, _she thought she could live a normal life_. Her breathing was all other than normal, she felt as though she couldn't breath yet she could hear how her breathing was only increasing in speed. Suddenly she felt something to her back and she stumbled forwards, not realizing she had backed into someone. She opened her eyes and saw the guy who she'd stumbled into move his lips as if he was saying something, or maybe he was shouting, she couldn't tell. She couldn't hear, couldn't concentrate on anything but the fear inside her. Her whole body flinched when she felt someone grabbed onto her arm, she turned to the person only to see it was Lanie, _she hadn't left?_ _What was she still doing here?_ Her lips were moving as well, saying something, but Kate could still not hear a thing. Except for the ringing in her mind, along with the questions that kept spinning around and around. _How did they know? Who had talked to them? Had someone who knew her as Nikki Heat come forward? Why?_ _And now Rick was to blame? Had he paid her? No, what?_

Kate found herself being dragged into a cab and she didn't struggle for one second, didn't have the strength to pull away even if she wanted to. It wasn't until the cab stopped and the car door opened that she saw Rick reaching out to her to pull her into a hug. That was when she realized she was crying, and she clutched herself onto him, fingers clenched in the back of his shirt.

"Thank you Lanie," his voice cut through her ringing.

So Lanie had been the one to drag her into the cab, she'd taken care of her and had probably called Rick in the cab to let him know they were on their way home. By the way he had waited for them she'd probably told him about her panic attack as well.

"No problem, I couldn't get through to her."

If Kate heard it right it sounded like Lanie was sad she hadn't been able to help.

"What happened? Do you know what triggered her?" Rick asked, the ringing had started to disappear and she felt her breathing slowly return to normal.

"An article, I managed to snatch the paper from the woman who brought it up, it's in the shopping bag, figured I should keep it hidden to give her a chance to collect herself but seems like you're doing a much better job than I did."

Kate felt bad for the woman, who sounded so saddened by the way she couldn't be able to help her, and made a mental note to both thank and apologize to her the next time she saw her.

"Yeah, thank you so much, I better get her up."

Rick gently pulled away from the hug in order to accept the bag from Lanie and to put his arm around Kate's waist before pulling her with him into his building. Once they reached his loft she felt as though the panic attack was completely blown away. The only traces of it were the stains of tears on her cheeks and her somewhat red eyes. Rick carefully let go of her waist and kissed her head before saying he would go and get her something to drink. She nodded and set off towards the couch, sitting down and taking the time to wipe her face with her hands.

"Here you go," Rick said, holding out a glass of water to her.

She accepted and thanked him with a small smile on her lips, almost immediately taking a sip of the cold water. He sat down beside her and she knew he wanted to ask what had happened, his eyes were already silently asking her.

"Everyone knows who I am. Who I was," she sighed, feeling her lips quiver as she tried her best to stay calm through her explanation. "A client must've told them about me, I don't know to what extent but... enough."

Rick looked confused, what did she mean _them_? Who were _them_? Then he suddenly remembered what Lanie had said. _An article_. About her? Who she was? _Oh_.

"The article, what does it say?" he gulped, afraid of what she'd do about the new situation.

"I don't know."

She looked around to spot the bag on the floor in front of the couch and picked it up in her lap. It didn't take long before her fingers found the paper Lanie had apparently snatched from the woman earlier and she took it out only to see the cover had a picture of herself and Rick from that first event they were at, containing the same text she'd read before. ' _Rick Castle's new flame is all other than innocent, you might know her as either Kate Beckett or NIKKI HEAT_ '. She didn't want to read it and so she just held it out for him to take. Once he did she leant back on the couch and took another sip of her glass of water, carefully observing Rick as he opened the paper.

They sat quiet, Kate eventually curled into the side of his body, closing her eyes in order not to look at the pages he was reading. She'd accidentally seen pictures that filled the pages when she put her head onto his shoulder, the pictures were from a couple different times. A few pictures had looked like they'd been taken when she and Rick was out on dates, apparently someone had followed them when they went out to take pictures of them which was something she never thought would happen to her. Sure, her boyfriend was somewhat famous but she never figured he was 'paparazzi follows him around to snap photos'-kind of famous. How could she have been so stupid to let this happen? She should've known they couldn't be together like they wanted to. She should've known everyone would find out eventually.

"They're ridiculous," Rick grunted all of a sudden and Kate opened her eyes in order to look up at him. "They're writing everything as if they know exactly what they are talking about but the truth is so much more."

Kate couldn't stop herself from looking at the page then, seeing they had added a small interview with a 'trustworthy' source who told them how he'd gotten in contact with 'Nikki Heat' and also given them a detailed description of what she had offered him. They had also a part in which they debated whether Rick Castle was paying her to play his girlfriend only to give him what he desired. They made it out as if Rick was using her, as if she was not at all there for herself, as if he wasn't the hero he was.

"This is awful," she whispered, feeling her tears come back again. "What if your fans see this?"

"They won't care about this, they know this is all just some fantasy of life-sucking reporters," Rick tried to reassure her.

"But what if? You would be so much better off if you never met me," Kate only muttered the last part but he could hear her loud and clear.

"Stop that, I would rather loose my fans than loose you."

His voice wasn't exactly harsh, but it was definitely determined. He tried keeping contact with her eyes but she looked away, down, as if she was ashamed of something. He wondered what was going on in her mind right at that moment, he wondered what she was thinking. She'd been scared about this before, telling him fears of what to do if they ever found out who she'd been posing as for the past couple years. He remembered that first event he took her to, when a guy had gone up to them and been much more forward than Rick had ever thought anyone would be in that kind of situation. What if that guy was the presumed 'source' the paper had? Right now Rick could only hope this wouldn't be the one thing that would tear them apart, he meant what he said, he would much rather loose all the fame in the world than loose the woman in his arms.

"You know what we could do to fix this?" Rick suddenly thought out loud, having to give a solution in hope she could relax more, leave this behind her.

"Break up and run away?" she whispered and he hoped to god she was only joking.

"What? No!" he said stern before he added, "We could tell the truth."

Kate gave him a shocked and horrified expression, at least she was meeting his eyes again.

"The truth? What do you mean 'the truth'?" she questioned and he noticed the frightened high-pitched tone her voice had taken on.

Rick bit his lip, maybe it hadn't been a good idea at all. But then again he _did know_ how reporters worked and he _did know_ they wouldn't leave them alone unless they gave some kind of statement about this.

"I mean we tell them our story, I mean perhaps not about how we met, but the fact that you were forced into that life and how you finally managed to get out," he suggested and he could almost hear her heart pick up in speed. "We don't have to if you don't want to!" he quickly added, didn't want her to have a reason to leave.

"I... I..." she stammered.

He decided to keep quiet, to give her some time to think about it. It was not like they needed to do this tomorrow, it was just a suggestion and as far as he knew they wouldn't be able to get a meeting with anyone in the next couple of days anyway. Who knew, perhaps the papers would even drop it, but he had a feeling it could take weeks and even months.

Kate took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down in order to sort out her thoughts, to understand what he was saying. Maybe he was right, it scared her but maybe he was. She wondered how people would react if they knew the true story, would they look at her weirder than they would after the article they had just stumbled across? Or would they look at her and understand it hadn't really been her choice? Would they stop blaming Rick? Or would they blame him even more?

* * *

 _A/N:_

 _Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate! Hope all of you have a great day no matter if you celebrate or not! There will only be 2 more chapters after this one, hope you enjoy. xxx_


	13. Chapter Thirteen

"So, tell me, is all these rumors true? Is your girlfriend really an escort?" the reporter asked in live television and Kate felt her heart beat harder in her chest.

Rick only smiled through his small irritation, and he looked past the cameras to catch the eye of the love of his life. He nodded to her and she took a deep breath as she quickly stepped into the camera's vision, a camera immediately landing on her but she tried her hardest to only focus on the man giving her as much courage as he could through his eyes. He held out his hand towards her and she took it as soon as she was in reach. He helped her get closer to him squeezed her hand as she sat down beside him in the couch. Once she was seated she looked at the reporter who looked shocked to have her sit right in front of her.

"This is Kate, and _yes_ , some might know her as Nikki Heat, but the story behind it all isn't as simple as black and white," Rick said with a serious voice and she felt a shudder go down her spine.

Kate knew that whatever happened now Rick would continue to protect her, she just hoped this could bring some peace to the both of them. Rick gave her the two times squeeze they had agreed on that he'd give her when she could start on her story, she'd told him earlier she didn't want to happen to say something too soon, didn't want to embarrass herself or him by speaking too soon.

"My parents got killed in an accident when I was sixteen," she started, biting her lower lip as she drew strength from Rick. "I went into foster care and was soon placed with a family. The man and the woman had a business and they-uh... they forced me into it, I had to do things I wasn't really ready for and after a while of trying to fight it, I just gave up. I didn't care anymore and since I didn't get the opportunity to go to college my hope to break free from them was so far gone I didn't know what else to do than to stay in the business."

Kate took a pause, because she could sure feel the sting in her eyes, thinking back on the exact moment she stopped caring. When she was so far gone she didn't know what to do.

"When you say business you mean as an escort?" the reporter, who seemed to have assembled himself again, asked.

Biting her lip she nodded, "Yes, that's what they called it, when I found out I called them out saying it was prostitution and that there was nothing they could say to change my mind. Only... they did things... locked me up without food was one thing, a teenager can only take as much." She paused for a second, glancing at Rick and giving him a smile through her pain, "He saved me. When Rick and I first met I had absolutely no intention of letting him close to me, but in the end he was the one who gave me reason to believe I could get out of there. Thanks to his connections in law enforcement we could stop the same thing that happened to me to happen to another girl they had just taken in to become a part of the foster family."

The reporter looked at her with wide eyes, apparently not at all expecting the kind of story Kate was telling him.

"Where is the man and the woman now?" he questioned and for the first time she felt relieved of what she could answer.

"They're in prison, and will never bother another girl ever again," she said proudly.

"And the girl you're saying you saved, where is she now?"

"She's safe, we've made sure the family she's in now is 't taking advantage of her," Rick said and Kate squeezed his hand.

The reporter had a couple of more questions, which Rick and Kate took turns answering depending on who the question was directed to. The reporter tried to get information if they had found each other because of Rick calling her as an escort and that's the only thing they had decided to lie about earlier, Kate had insisted on it, not wanting his fans to look at him any differently. Therefore she was the one to tell that story, saying they had met because he had clumsily bumped into her one day on the streets and he had insisted on buying her dinner in order to apologize for his lack of watching where he was going. When the reporter asked why Rick only shrugged and said something in line with 'have you seen her? She's the most beautiful woman I'd seen and of course I needed a reason to ask her out'. That had made Kate blush, hard, and then the reporter informed them the time was up, told the audience who their next guest would be once they came back after commercial break.

"Thank you so much for letting me have the story first Rick," the reporter said and Rick only nodded, shaking his hand and thanking him back for taking them within such short notice.

The second the reporter had thanked Kate as well they were told they needed to leave the camera vision in order for the show to start again. None of them hesitated before they left, saying a quick goodbye to the makeup artist who'd taken care of Rick before he went on and who had, after some asking from Rick, also made Kate ready for the camera even though that hadn't been part of her job. Rick hadn't told anyone about their plan to let Kate talk in the show, they had figured it would be for the better if no one knew. He hadn't even told them she would be joining them in the studio, had tried to sneak her in without telling too many she was with him. That's why the reporter had gotten so shocked to see her enter the camera area when she had.

"You wanna grab some lunch?" he asked as they finally exited the studio and didn't have to keep quiet anymore.

"Depends in what you have in mind," she smiled, feeling as great as ever having done the one last thing she needed to do in order to find peace again.

"Well, I was thinking the first restaurant we went to," he suggested and she bit her lip in order to try and stop the growing smile.

"You mean the one you invited me to but I said no and then you _tricked_ me into meeting you there?" she recalled the memory.

"Don't pretend like you didn't enjoy it," he teased, his grin reaching his eyes.

"It wasn't professional," she bit back, though it was through her growing smile.

"Nothing was ever professional between you and me, I'm pretty sure I started falling in love with you the moment I opened the door," Rick confessed and she felt her cheeks blush.

If anyone could make her believe in soulmates it would be him, because there was really no logical explanation as to how quick he got into her heart after they first met.

"No, I guess it wasn't," she agreed, remembering the way he had made her feel that first time before they even did anything. "Let's go," she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards where she remembered the restaurant was placed.

They had been to the restaurant quite a few times since they got together, and every time the waitress had been more than friendly to them. The first time she had asked them if they were a couple, which Kate immediately had denied, and she had seemed pretty disappointed by the fact. The second time they were there she had looked at them with narrowed eyes and said something in line with 'But now you _have_ to be together!' which had made Kate blush and Rick smirk in response. Now, she looked extremely happy seeing the both of them walk in there hand in hand.

"Kate, Rick!" she called out, coming to greet them immediately.

Another waiter had been on his way taking the two of them to their table but the waitress told 'Tony' that she would take them.

"Hey Maddie," Rick greeted and Kate unsuspectedly received a hug from the waitress.

"I saw you guys on the talk show and oh my god I had no clue! Thank goodness you got it all sorted out!" Maddie babbled as she let go of Kate.

"Yeah, it's all better now," Kate answered while Maddie started leading them to the table they had shared all the times they'd been there.

Once they had taken a seat and gotten their menus, it was like Maddie couldn't keep her mouth anymore.

"I know I'm being way too nosy but is this why you two weren't together yet when you first ate here? I mean, where you working back then?"

Kate only looked at Rick, trying to determine whether the waitress would go tell on them if she said yes, because she really didn't want his fans to know Rick had been her client in the beginning.

"Maddie? What should I do with this?" another man came asking the waitress and she immediately turned her attention to him and the paper he was holding.

"That's not acceptable, I'll call them right away, could you grab Tony so Rick and Kate can order and then meet me in the kitchen," Maddie more ordered than asked.

The man nodded and walked away while Maddie turned back to the two, "I'm sorry, I need to do this, but Tony will get here any minute to take your order."

"I thought you were just a waitress?" Rick said and Kate kicked his leg under the table, "ouch!"

He could blurt out some stupid statements sometimes, ' _just a waitress_ ', that can be pretty offensive depending on who you talk to. But to Kate's relief Maddie simply laughed at his dumbstruck expression.

"No, I own the place, I just prefer being with the customers and make sure they're good," she explained and Kate knew her opened jaw showed just how shocked she was. "Anyway, I'll catch up with you two later," and with that she was gone.

The waiter Tony arrived just seconds later and both Kate and Rick had to shake their heads in order to collect themselves enough to order.

* * *

Maddie had come back later, and after some discussing both Kate and Rick had agreed they could tell her about them indeed not being together the first time due to her job but that she had to promise not to gossip about it. Maddie had of course sworn to secrecy, having seen the interview earlier she knew what was at stake. Plus, she'd pointed out, she had kind of a secret of her own which _they_ now knew. Sure, she had never hid being the owner of the restaurant but she told them how she didn't exactly want people to know unless they asked, said she wanted to be able to hear what her customers really thought without them knowing they were talking to the person behind it all.

Once they got back to his loft Kate seemed to be in her own thoughts, thinking back on the day and all the days before. Thinking about how they met and how she slowly fell in love with the man who was still right beside her. A man who had given her more hope than she ever thought would be possible after what she had been through. Rick was observing her and wondered what she was thinking about, knowing he wanted nothing more than for her to be okay with them telling the world about her backstory. Hoping she wouldn't run, hoping no one would ever bother her about it again now that she had finally gotten rid of the monsters behind it all. Before he knew it they were standing by his large window, looking out at the city below.

"You know, if those buddies of yours hadn't gotten you into the bet we never would've met," she suddenly said and he wrinkled his nose in disgust by the mentioning of them.

"Urgh, don't remind me of those two asses, last time I spoke to them was to tell them I went through with the bet and never wanted to be drawn into their hooligans ever again," he grunted and she bit her lip.

"Still, if it hadn't been for that bet, you never would've called me," she repeated and he thought about it.

No, he most probably wouldn't have.

"Doesn't make up for the twisted things they always drew me into," he said instead.

She laughed small, because, yeah, she'd heard one or two things they had done together.

"Anyway, maybe you shouldn't be so hard on them, after all you saved me thanks to that bet," she suggested and he wondered where this sudden interest for his old pals had come from. "I-uh, might've been looking through your photo albums when I couldn't sleep last night," she answered, "I saw all these photos and even though you've told me a lot about them and how they consistently got you into trouble, I get a feeling you had a great time with them. I don't want you to loose that friendship because of me."

The last part was mostly in a whisper but he could hear her loud and clear, as if she'd screamed the words out loud and he turned towards her, carefully taking her hands in his.

"Kate, I never lost them because of you, those friendships were lost _years_ before I took that bet. I just never had a the courage to let it go. Sure," he agreed, "I had plenty of fun times with them but, all those times were in high school and college, I grew up after that while they stayed in that immature state of mind. I got new friends who are much more mature, even though we can be plenty of immature as well it's on another level. Do you remember Javi and Kevin? Lanie and Jenny's boyfriends?" she nodded, "I met them after doing a stupid prank Dustin and Tim got me into, it didn't take long for me to realize how real friends were supposed to be after that first beer. So, I'm really not suffering from not seeing them anymore, plus I got you now, and I would rather be with you than those two jackasses."

Kate looked at him, felt his fingers fiddling with hers as he explained, and she understood what he meant. She understood his point of view, actually admired how he shared it with her without any struggles. They really had gotten far in their relationship, trusting each other with stories of their past.

"Okay," she said and when he smiled at her she smiled back with a feeling of her stomach flipping.

She stood on her toes and kissed him, kissed that smile she had fallen in love with, and they let go of each other's fingers in order to wrap their arms around each other's bodies instead. She had her arms around his neck while his had landed on her hip, when they pulled away they left their foreheads still in touch.

"It's been a long day, why don't we go to bed?" Rick asked, and Kate smirked.

"Sounds like a good plan," she agreed moving her arms down his in order to grasp his hands and pull him with her to his bedroom.

They'd both had a big day and she just wanted to get lost in him, wanted to feel nothing but him. Apparently he had the same thought as he didn't wait long before he put his lips back on hers and backed her towards the bed. The second the back of her knees reached it she slowly fell backwards onto the sheets, his body following to land on top of hers. Feeling his body pressing into hers made her whole being tingle with relief. They took it slow, both being gentle and both of them taking time appreciating the sense of their skin against each other's. When he took off her shirt he made sure his fingers sent fire on her skin, when she roamed her hands on his naked back she could feel the shiver in his spine. His mouth left hers only to kiss down her jaw, her neck, onto her chest and pulled down her pants as she eased it for him by bending her knees. The second her pants were off they were thrown to the floor beside the bed, her bra and panties joining soon along with his pants and boxers. His mouth traveled back to hers and she moaned when he pushed inside her, started gasping in pleasure as he started moving in and out. She had never been loud in bed, unless she faked it in order for the client, but he made her feel things none had done. He was truly her soulmate, if there was such a thing. She was starting to believe so though, _he_ made her believe start to believe so. She met his thrusts and she rolled them over in order to roll her hips down into him, their tongues finding a rhythm to their dance as they slowly rocked their bodies with an intensity that only could be described as love. As they was about to reach their highs together Rick quickly flipped them over again, pulling up her leg around his hip to nudge that spot he'd found when their relationship had only just started. Kate screamed out with bliss as she came, taking Rick with her. They continued to move until they both were too exhausted. When he had pulled out of her they cuddled together, she continuously kissed his bare chest while he kissed her hair.

"I will never get tired of this," Kate whispered, hugging his torso closer to hers.

He chuckled asking, "The sex?".

"No!" she giggled, hitting his chest. "The cuddling," she stated before she added, "You."

"Ah," he chuckled, hugging her closer. "Me neither."

She looked up at him and met his eyes, she leaned closer up and smudged her lips onto hers. She was most definitely getting used to this, and there was no way she would ever give it up, give _him_ up. No, she was in love and by the looks of it he felt the same.

"I love you," she said against his lips.

"I love you too," he told her as they snuggled closer before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

 _A/N:_  
 _Hey loves!_ _As I said before the_ _next chapter is the last! Hope you've enjoyed this story as much as I have writing it!_


	14. Chapter Fourteen (final chapter)

"Slow down, slow down!" Rick laughed as their four-year-old son and eleven-year-old daughter ran towards the office they both knew too well.

"Mom!" they both shouted and the brunette looked up from the papers she had been eyeing.

"Kids! What are you doing here?" she asked as she turned her chair in order to open her arms and hug them.

"We came to see you mom! Look, look, daddy took us to the water park today!" Jim said, holding his arm out to show the bracelet one gets in order to visit the water park.

Kate laughed, their son was as overly excited about places like that as his father.

"Did you guys have fun?" she asked and was immediately thrown into the story of their day.

Kate felt Rick's gaze on them, knowing just how much he enjoyed watching her with their kids. They had her full attention and she was listening to them as if they were her whole world, because in a way they were. It had taken only a year before Rick had proposed to her after they finally got her demons arrested, another year for them to marry and it didn't take long after their honeymoon before they decided to adopt. Kate had found Olive one day through her work, the small girl had lost her parents in an accident and Rick had seen how destroyed Kate was with the similarities to her own experience and suggested they adopt the girl. Rick had been supportive the second Kate had settled on working with kids who went through the tragedy of loosing their parents or guardians one way or another. Olive had been scared when Kate announced her pregnancy, and after some convincing she'd confessed to Kate she was afraid they would forget about her once their, as she put it, 'real' baby came along. That's when Kate had told Olive about how she herself had lost her parents, had told the girl she knew exactly what it was like not having her parents around. Kate had made sure to tell the girl how she would never try to replace Olive's biological parents but that there was no way her nor Rick would ever forget about her, because she was their daughter. Maybe not biological but real nonetheless.

"Kate do you got those... oh," Kate's co-worker, Denise, stopped in the doorway as she took in the sight of the whole Castle clan in Kate's office.

"Hi Denise, sorry, the kids wanted to say hi and I figured since Kate's shift's over in ten minutes it wouldn't mind," Rick immediately excused and the kids said 'sorry' as adorably as they could.

Kate chuckled while Denise just hummed, never really been a fan of Rick's small tricks, but smiled at the kids since, after all, kids where her profession. Denise had disliked Rick since the time she caught them making out in Kate's office, immediately assuming it had been Rick's idea when Kate really wasn't so sure about that.

"Anyway, Kate, you got those papers I asked you about earlier?" Denise asked, not saying any names because of the confidentiality.

"Yup, right here," Kate said, letting go of her kids' hands for a few seconds in order to pull out the file with the said papers and hand it to her co-worker.

Denise took the papers and said goodbye as she walked out of the office after giving Rick her another glare.

"What does she have against me?" Rick asked as soon as the door was closed behind the woman.

Kate laughed at her husband, "I don't know, maybe you shouldn't distract me as often as you do."

"Yeah, you're quite silly too dad," Olive agreed which only made Kate laugh even harder.

Rick grunted at his daughter's comment.

"Just for that, no ice cream when we get home," he told them with a fake irritation and Kate bit her lower lip.

"Noooo," Jim yelled out. "Oli take back! Want ice cream!" he ordered his bigger sister.

"Don't worry Jim, mom's gonna give us ice cream," she said quite confident and Kate let go of a laugh as she shook her head.

"If dad says no ice cream, no ice cream it is," she said while standing up.

Their kids immediately complained, hugging her legs tight as she walked around her desk. Since she couldn't really go far due to their hugging Rick took the last steps between them. His hand landed on her cheek as he leaned in to kiss her. The kids' complaints immediately turned to 'ew's as they took in the sight of their parents kissing. Their lips pulled apart as they chuckled at their children's behavior.

"Come on, let's go home," Kate announced and the three children, Rick included in that category, cheered.

* * *

Snuggled down with their kids between them as he read a nighttime story Kate couldn't stop smiling. She was way too happy about her life, there was nothing she would like to change. She was married to her best friend, had a girl who she loved like her own and a son who was a mix of herself and the man she loved. Her life had looked petty dark for a while, but when she met Rick it had been like a glimpse of light was starting to appear.

"Goodnight monkeys," Rick whispered, kissing their kids' heads as he started to, with practiced care, gentle out of the double bed they all shared in the big toy room when they told stories.

Both Kate and Rick had made sure the two monkeys would get a room each, knowing that's what they would want in the future, but thanks to Rick's wealth and the extra income of Kate's they had made the guest room into a big toy room where the kids could choose to play in together without ever feeling like they intruded in each other's spaces. Plus the big bed they'd gotten could fit all four of them easily when they were reading stories, and it didn't matter if the kids fell asleep because in a way they were already in bed and at a good place, no need for them to be woken and walked into their own rooms.

Kate kissed the tops of the kids' heads too before easing out of the bed to join Rick, he'd waited for her before they both turned down the lights and gently closed the door behind them.

"That trip to the water park really must've worn them out," Kate whispered in a chuckle as they walked down the stairs and set towards their bedroom.

His smile went bigger as he joined her chuckle, "Yeah, we were there for a good couple of hours before they started going on and on about how they demanded you to join us."

She felt her heart swell at the mention of their love for her. To her disappointment, and to their kids', she had caught a big case involving kids who had just lost their everything when two buses crashed into each other, which had meant Kate had had to work over to make sure very kid who had a close relative or a family friend could live there and those who didn't needed into foster care. It was a process she didn't like any more than the kids, which was also why her co-worker often let her do the talking with the kids. Through her own experience with foster homes and social workers she knew how to speak to them without scaring them more than they already were, knew how it felt and therefore could show more sympathy than most of her co-workers. Today had been the day when everything was finally at place, when she could actually end her shift when it should to go home and enjoy a full evening with her family.

"When's your next day off? Maybe we should go there then?" Rick asked and Kate smiled with excitement.

That childish excitement bubbling inside her was proof of how much he'd changed her, how much their kids had changed her, she was finally able to see the light and find magic in the things they did together.

"Well, I'm off Friday, and then if they don't feel like they need me I'm free this weekend," she answered and his grin grew big.

"Let's go then," he said and she grabbed his hand before he could walk into their adjoined bathroom. "What?" he asked as she turned him to her.

She bit her lower lip to try and keep her smile down, knowing there was one more thing she needed to tell him before the night was over. She pulled him with her to sit down at the edge of the bed, she didn't hesitate before she straddled his legs and kept her eyes locked with his. He was looking at her with wonder, his blue eyes darkening a little bit. This was a natural position for them, a position they had not reserved for strictly sexual activities but also for when they just wanted to be close and talk. She had her hands behind his neck while his landed above her bum in order to keep her close, a hug they both loved.

"You know I love you, right?" Kate asked and she could see both confusing and a small glimpse of fear in his blues.

"Of course, and I love you too, more than anything," he immediately reassured.

"I know, and I can never thank you enough for everything you've done for me, for everything you've given me," she said while smiling the whole time. "Damn Rick you even found and bought the cabin me and my parents always went to in the summers," she felt her eyes water. "But there's something that's gonna change, again, and I need you to not wake the kids, so please keep it down."

She could see he was really confused and that fear was still there, just like she'd expected it to. She knew it was kind of cruel, prolonging this, but he _had_ done the same thing to her when he proposed to her. He had made it sound as if he was breaking up with her, saying something like 'we both deserve better', before he went down on one knee and showed her the ring.

"I'm pregnant," she blurted out, hating to see that fear even though she knew there was nothing for him to be scared of, and she couldn't torture him anymore.

"What?" his eyes went wide as the words processed in his mind. "You're... you're pregnant?!" the realization hit him hard and he jumped up with her legs still wrapped around him as he started spinning her around with a laugh.

She giggled as she tried hushing him, still not wanting the kids to wake up after the eventful day they'd had. His lips landed on hers, silencing her hushing and evoked a moan instead. When their lips parted she bit her lip again, her smile an open mouthed grin.

"Fuck, you scared me Kate," he sighed out his curse and she giggled.

"Told you I would get back at you for that proposal."

He chuckled shaking his head, letting their noses touch in the process. "You're evil," he said and she smirked.

"Not more evil than you," she fired back and his lips pouted in order to peck her lips.

"But you're serious? You're really pregnant?" he asked, sitting back down on the bed with her straddling him.

"Mhmm, I've felt pretty funny the last couple weeks, first I thought I was catching a cold or something but it hit me two days ago that I've felt this before when I was pregnant with Jim. I bought three tests today during my lunch and all showed positive," Kate told him.

"We're gonna need a bigger loft, or maybe we should buy a house," Rick suggested.

"No, Rick, we got enough room, we got the toy room..." Kate started to object but Rick shook his head.

"No, we can't just turn down the toy room, the kids love that room, and that won't change to the baby in your belly," he said, his hand sneaking between them in order to touch her belly.

"But this is our home Rick, this is where we met, where we found love," she loved their loft, loved their story in there.

Sure, home was wherever her family was, but she still wanted to stay in their loft, it was filled with history.

"Okay, then maybe we could extend it," he suggested and Kate gave him a raised eyebrow.

"What do you mean? _How_?"

"Well, the loft beside ours is for sale, the Winstons are moving out, maybe we could buy it and make a door in the wall, adjoin the two lofts," he shrugged his shoulders and she bit her inside cheek.

"Is that even possible? Would we be allowed?" she asked and he nodded.

"I think so, of course we need to talk to Mr. Lawry, to make sure he's okay with us tempering with his building, but he's a friend or ours."

She thought about it, did they really need a bigger loft? What would they do to the rest of the other loft? What the hell would they do with two kitchens? Two living rooms?

"I have a few ideas," Rick interrupted her thoughts, making her realize she'd muttered them aloud.

She narrowed her eyes, she was actually pretty sure she could imagine a few of those. He had been talking about turning Jim's room into a gaming room before Jim was born. He had suggested a ball-room as well, as in a room filled with those balls you can find at an inside playground.

"I'm sure you do," she said, brow still raised.

"Come on, we can at least look into it," he pecked her lips, pecked her cheeks, her nose.

"Fine!" she giggled and his lips landed on her neck with a smirk.

She gasped when he sucked at her pulse, his lips traveling to her collarbone to kiss her there before pulling away.

"We're having a baby," he whispered with pure joy in his eyes.

"Yeah, we are," she said, beaming at him and leaning forward to kiss his lips.

He suckled on her lower lip, gently biting it to leave it to tingle in a way only he could evoke. Her hands landed on his chest and she carefully pushed in order to follow him down into the mattress. She could feel the love through his every touch, his every kiss, and she knew he could feel the same from her. Making love to him had only intensified for each time they found themselves tangled in the sheets.

This was exactly where she wanted to be. With him. In their loft. Their family only growing with the love they felt for each other. She could've never imagined her life would take the turn it did at sixteen. But in a way she might never had met him if it hadn't. Of course she would never forgive the monsters for what they did, would always miss her parents, but her life had turned out pretty great anyway. And her life with him and their family had only just begun.

* * *

 _The End_

* * *

 _A/N:_  
 _Thank you all so much for reading this story, thank you all for bearing with the sometimes long times between updates, and thank you for all the reviews! Next I will probably focus on the One Shot prompts again, but I might also start on a new fanfiction which I won't post until it's long enough. Merry Christmas again, love to you all (no matter if you celebrate or not)._  
 _xxxx_


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